The Sea and The Moon
by TyGuy45
Summary: Perseus Jackson is the only one left. All of his friends are dead and he has nobody to rely on anymore. A certain silver-eyed goddess has lost all of her hunters and her only real family. They will need to find a way to overcome their differences to defeat an ancient threat rising from the Void itself. Completed!
1. Chapter 1

**A.N: This is the first story I have written. The first few chapter will be a bit short, but they will eventually become longer and much better as it progresses. Also, I realized after I made this, that there is story called 'The Moon and The Sea' that's pretty big. I can assure you that I did not try to take the name in anyway.**

 **A.N #2: (I am writing this in the future) Before you start this story, I must warn you that there will be a few plot holes that might cause a few confusions among you viewers. I ask that you try to ignore them, as I don't think I'm going to be able to change many of them very easily, though feel free to point any of them out to me if you catch any. Thanks and enjoy the story!**

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The war was over, thousands of demigods littering the ground and not a single inch of ground was not covered . The gold dust of the monsters of Kronos's army piled up and mixed with the blood of the fallen heroes. The atmosphere was somber and nobody was in the mood to laugh, let alone smile or even celebrate their victory. This win had come with a price that was almost too great to pay, and if another war were to come, Olympus would surely fall at the hands of even the weakest enemy.

I, Perseus Jackson, stood amidst the barren battlefield tears welling up in my eyes as I remembered my friends. Now, I was all alone, not even my Wise Girl was here with me. She had been slain by the mighty force of Hyperion as she jumped in front of a spear that was heading for my stomach. She had given up everything just so that I could live, but now I didn't even want to do that. Without her, I was nothing and there was no way I could bring her back from the underworld. I had contemplated stabbing myself with my own sword just so that I could be with her again, but that was not what she would have wanted, so I was forced to live my life without her.

I felt numb as I waited in the elevator to the 600th floor of the Empire State building. As the demigods filed into the throne room, the gods nodded their heads in gratitude. Nobody had left the battle alive without losing something that they loved, whether it was their sibling, lover, or even a body part. The gods slowly called up the few remaining demigods one by one, granting them a wish of their choice. Most chose to become partially immortal like the Hunters, while some wanted riches and fame, but I wanted something that nobody could give. My Wise Girl.

"Perseus Jackson!" boomed Zeus," You have been the greatest help in the war against our father and you shall be granted anything that you wish. Anything that is in our power to grant, you will have it. Even becoming an Olympian God if that is what you wish."

I was shocked. It was one thing to become immortal or even become a minor god, but an Olympian? That was almost unheard of.

Thinking about my decision very carefully, I answered,"No."

"No?" Zeus said in disbelief," Why would you turn down such a generous offer. We have never given anybody major godhood, let alone made them an Olympian."

"I do not want to become an Olympian, but I do have a wish. I ask that all of you remember and commemorate all of your fallen children. They have fought bravely and deserve a proper funeral. I also want for each and every one of you to swear that if there should be another war, you will not abandon your children to die, like you did today. If you had actually cared for them and joined the fight, then half of them would still be alive, standing in this same throne room, receiving the same gifts that we are now. Everyday, you must remember what they have given for Olympus and be grateful for it. I will be holding you to your oaths."

"Fine. We will swear to do as you have said and we will gather every single body so that they can have a proper burial," Zeus grudgingly agreed. I had never had a great relationship with the King of the Gods, but he seemed to respect me a little more than he used to.

As the gods started to flash out and the demigods started to leave, I was left standing in the middle of the throne room on my own. I finally walked out and onto the busy streets of Olympus, which was bustling with activity and minor gods preparing to celebrate their victory. I would not be celebrating though, only mourning for the loss of my best friend and girlfriend.

I suddenly felt a hand on my arm. I looked up and my teary eyes met the silver ones of the goddess of the moon.

"Perseus, I was walking by and I saw you looking so miserable. I didn't want to just leave you here on your own as you have done so much for us." she said softly.

"Lady Artemis," I bowed quickly.

She just ignored my formalities and got straight to the point ,"I know that you face the loss of your loved one and I know that it is not easy. I myself lost every single one of my hunters. The pain is something that takes time to recede, but will never truly disappear. You just need to learn to live with it. "

"It hurts so much. I don't think there's any way in Hades that I'll be able to live with this pain," I cried. More tears spilled down my already wet cheeks and dripped into the soil at my feet.

"It will get better. Trust me. And once it does, you will be glad that you let it go, you'll see."

"Thank you, Lady Artemis. I just need some time to think about this. I hope you don't mind if I step away," I said as respectfully as I could.

"I understand, Perseus. Just remember that this wasn't your fault and that there was nothing you could do to stop it," She replied.

I nodded and gave her one last bow before striding away to find somewhere to be alone.

I arrived at a lonely hill that sat just bellow the full moon in it's own solitude. The gentle breeze tickled my face and my hair fluttered as I sat down at the base of a tree. It was already late at night and the sun had long set under the horizon. I couldn't help but admire the bright moon that was directly above me and think about the goddess itself. A strange feeling bubbled in my chest, but I repressed it, a little confused about it.

 _Her_ face floated across my vision and I could hear _her_ voice in my head. Nothing would give me any salvation from the aching pain of my heart and it ripped itself apart. It felt like my entire essence had split in two, one half staying with me, and the other traveling to Elysium to rest with the one person who I loved more than anything in the world. By now, my eyes were soaking wet and I couldn't stop the waterfall of tears, nor the pounding voice in my head, telling me to take my own life and rejoin _her._

After a couple minutes, I finally managed to reign in my emotions, but I still had a lone tear leaking out of my closed lid. Soon, the recent events of the war took it's toll on my body, and I fell into the first deep sleep since the war.

(End of Chapter 1)

 **A.N: I know this chapter is not the best, but I promise that it gets better. I hope you enjoyed reading this and be sure to review! If so, feel free to give me some ideas because I have no idea what to write after this. I'll figure something out.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N: I will be switching to first person because I find it a pain to write in third person for a long story. I apologize in advance for any slip-ups I have changing first to third person as well as tenses.**

Artemis POV:

The war had cost too much. I had lost everything and now I was all alone. As I sat in the throne room after the war, I was barely paying attention and I only heard bits and pieces of what were being said. I was still wallowing in the pain of my losses and it would be a long time before that would change.

"Perseus Jackson!" Zeus boomed. I saw the boy move to stand in the middle of the room. He bowed to the council.

"You have been the greatest help in the war against our father and you shall be granted anything that you wish. Anything that is in our power to grant, you will have it. Even becoming an Olympian God if that is what you wish," My father continued. Everybody was stunned into silence. There was not a single person to have been offered such a huge prize for anything. Not to mention the fact that he seemed to have gained the respect of my father, which was an almost impossible for a demigod. Especially a son of Poseidon.

Perseus looked like he was contemplating his options, but seemed to make up his mind. I already knew his answer. No male would give up the chance for so much power. Not even Perseus. But when he gave his answer, I was more shocked than anybody else in the room.

"No," He said simply. Wait, did I hear that correctly. No? Why would he reject this offer. I have not known a single male to give up any amount of power no matter how small.

Apparently Zeus was almost shocked as I was because he had a look of disbelief on his face.

"No? Why would you turn down such a generous offer. We have never given anybody major godhood, let alone made them an Olympian."

"I do not want to become an Olympian, but I do have a wish. I ask that all of you remember and commemorate all of your fallen children. They have fought bravely and deserve a proper funeral. I also want for each and every one of you to swear that if there should be another war, you will not abandon your children to die, like you did today. If you had actually cared for them and joined the fight, then half of them would still be alive, standing in this same throne room, receiving the same gifts that we are now. Everyday, you must remember what they have given for Olympus and be grateful for it. I will be holding you to your oaths," Perseus said.

This was not what I had expected. He had not only turned down becoming an Olympian, but he had also given up his wish so that he could help the gods and their children. He did not want anything for himself. A small amount of respect wormed itself into my heart as I thought about the hero in front of me.

"Fine. We will swear to do as you have said and we will gather every single body so that they can have a proper burial," Zeus grudgingly agreed. He waved his hand, signaling that the meeting was over. I gave Perseus one last look of gratitude before I flashed away and onto the streets of Olympus. The gods were all happily dancing and yelling in victory.

I was in no mood for such celebration, however. There was no way that I could enjoy a party if I had nobody to party with. My hunters had always been the people who I could always have fun with. There was no denying that I would not be the same without them. It would not be easy to move on.

As I walked down the streets, I noticed a figure walking slowly with tears falling down his face. Looking closer, I noticed the unmistakable black messy hair and pure green eyes of Perseus Jackson.

I slowly walked up to him and placed my hand on his arm. He looked up at me and quickly bowed.

"Lady Artemis." I ignored him and started to let the words flow out of my mouth. I did not know exactly what I was saying. My mouth spoke on it's own and it seemed to take the words straight out of my heart.

"I know that you face the loss of your loved one and I know that it is not easy. I myself lost every single one of my hunters. The pain is something that takes time to recede, but will never truly disappear. You just need to learn to live with it," I said softly.

"It hurts so much. I don't think there's any way in Hades that I'll be able to live with this pain," He said as he started crying. I hated to admit it, but a small part of me hated seeing him this way. Even though he was a male, I had accepted that he was well worthy of at least some respect. There are very few males whom I have ever respected.

"It will get better. Trust me. And once it does, you will be glad that you let it go, you'll see," I said sincerely.

"Thank you, Lady Artemis. I just need some time to think about this. I hope you don't mind if I step away," He thanked me.

"I understand, Perseus. Just remember that this wasn't your fault and that there was nothing you could do to stop it," I reassured him.

He gave me a bow before walking off, his shoulders still slumped, but I could see that he had an air of confidence around him that had not been there before. I knew it would be a long road to recovery for both of him, but he was getting there.

As for me, I know that it will be very hard to recover as well, but I am a goddess. I have my duties and I cannot neglect them no matter what. The fact that my hunters would all be in Elysium gave me a little comfort, but it did not quell my grief. I wiped the single tear making it's way down my face. It was not accompanied by any other droplets, just like I was without my hunters.

I sighed and flashed away to preform my nightly duties. It would be a miserable next few months.

(End of Chapter 2)

 **A.N: For now, I'm going to keep the chapters shorter just because this is one of my first stories. As the story progresses the chapters will be longer. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. Be sure to help me with ideas as I don't know how many I can produce myself.**


	3. Chapter 3

Percy POV:

I woke up the next morning in the same position I had fallen asleep in. I stood up and winced as I heard the cracks and pops that my back was making. I'm not sure what I wanted to do now. Before the war, everything was set out for me and I just had to follow the path that life had paved for me, but now, I don't even know where that path is anymore.

I moped around on the same hill, before deciding that I needed to do something to get my blood rushing again. I jumped up and started my morning work out. As I finished a set of push-ups, I thought about where I wanted to go now that I had nothing left.

I decided that I would leave and live a life on my own as a punishment for letting my girlfriend and friends down. Everybody that ever got close to me ended up getting hurt and I was tired of it. I would never be the cause of another death ever again. If I left the face of the Earth, then nobody would ever be able to find me and get killed by me in the future.

The world didn't need me anymore. Nobody wants a broken boy, who doesn't even know what to do with his life anymore. They needed somebody who was a real hero, not some teenage boy who wasn't even strong enough to save his friends.

I walked to a nearby beach and waded into the cold water. The moment my foot touched the water, I felt reinvigorated and my body lost all of the original tiredness. I jumped head first into the waves opened my eyes.

My body seemed to move on it's own and swim towards the depths of the ocean until I reached the front gate of my father's palace. A guard was posted at the gate, standing in a uniform position with his spear held at his side, waiting to be used. As I approached him, he suddenly launched into action and pointed his spear towards my vulnerable throat.

"Halt in the name of the King! State your name and your purpose immediately!" yelled the merman.

"My name is Percy Jackson and I am here to see my father. I believe his name is Poseidon. I do not think my father would be too happy if you showed up in his throne room with his dead son, who had been run through by his father's own guard," I said sarcastically.

The guard shot up like a bullet and started bowing before apologizing profusely," I'm so sorry, My Prince. I did not know that you would be coming here and I didn't recognize you. Of course you are welcome in the palace at any time."

I smirked at the nervous tone in his voice and nodded, indicating that I had accepted his apology. He dumbly stood there for a minute before I gestured with my hand in the direction of the palace.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll take you right to him," the merman said as he snapped out of his trance.

We swam through the grand halls of the palace until we reached a room with a door that was labeled "King and Queen Quarters". I dismissed the guard and watched as he swam away to resume his job at the gate before lifting hand and preparing to knock, when the door swung open and there stood Poseidon, Master and God of the sea. His his face had wrinkles and bags under the eyes, indicating that he had not slept for a very long time. His eyes lit up at the sight of his favorite demigod son.

"Percy, my son! What brings you here?" he almost yelled.

"Hey dad, I was just stopping by, but while I'm here, I think I should tell you something," I said making sure that nobody was listening," I think I need some time to myself after everything that happened recently. I'm going to disappear and try to stay under the radar. I just want some peace and quiet for one, but the Fates seem to be set on giving the hardest life they can. I'm still far from recovering from the loss of Annabeth."

My eyes watered and I felt my body tense just thinking about her. I knew that it would be hard to forget, but I think it would be best. It would do no good if I cried whenever I thought of her. This is not what she would have wanted. She would have wanted me to move on and go along with my life.

My father seemed to understand, as he wrapped in a tight hug and whispered,"Take as much time as you need, son. Just remember that if you ever need guidance of support, then come to the sea and I will be there for you."

I smiled gratefully at him before I dissolved into mist (He will have a couple extra powers; nothing too overpowered) and traveled away from the palace, knowing that it would be a long time before I would come back.

I found myself on the beach, with palm trees and greenery behind me. Pulling out riptide, I walked into the underbrush, preparing for whatever the Fates decided to throw in my direction. And if I die, well, that's a bonus.

(End of Chapter 3)

GuardianXAngel: Thank you for the support and the ideas. I'll be sure incorporate some of them throughout the story!

 **A.N: As I mentioned earlier, Percy will have some extra powers, but they will not be over the top because I don't really like the stories that make Percy insanely powerful. Thanks for reading this chapter! Please review and give me new ideas as to where this story is going. I want this to be a very writer-reader interactive story. I also want to point out that I will probably be updating inconsistently, but I will try for at least twice a week if not more.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A.N: In this story, I will be portraying Artemis as a more understanding person than in some of the other stories I have read. She will dislike most males, but she knows when one deserves respect.**

Artemis POV (2 years later):

I dunked my head into the cold water of the Tiber River, cleaning myself after a long day. Life without the hunters was hard, but I managed. Barely. I still remembered all of the memories that I created with them and all of the times that we pranked each other. I wish I was back there now. After the war, every day became miserable. There was no joy left without anybody to share it with. I spent a lot of my time mourning the death of my hunters and reminiscing old memories.

Perseus had been missing for 2 years and everybody on the council was starting to get worried, even Zeus, who was too stubborn to admit it. The only person who seemed normal was Poseidon, which was strange because he should be the one that is the most distraught. It was like Perseus had just disappeared. Hades had not felt his presence in the Underworld so that meant he wasn't dead and that he had to be somewhere on the surface.

I had spent the last couple of weeks at Camp Halfblood because Chiron said that they needed somebody to help train the demigods. Normally Perseus would take on this job, but obviously that was not the case anymore. I hated teaching those stupid boys. All they did was fool around and pretend that they were some famous warrior that deserved all the glory in the world. I can assure you that none of them even come close to what Perseus has achieved.

He had grown on me in during the time I had known him. He was so humble and loyal to his friends, never bragging about his achievements. He was not like most other males and I had come to realize this after he had disappeared. I felt slightly guilty for judging him so harshly without even knowing what type of person he would turn out to be. I had been tempted to go on a solo hunt to search for the lost hero, but there was too much that needed to be done on Olympus. Repairs were still ongoing from the war as most of the mountain had been destroyed. I also had to make sure that no stray monsters were roaming the area in case there were some that may endanger the demigods.

As I dried myself off, I looked across the water and saw the most beautiful buck I had ever seen. It was large, and looked like it was well fed, but it wasn't fat like many of the others that I had seen the other day. Slowly standing up, I drew my bow and prepared to fire, killing the animal with a single arrow, but it must have heard something and it darted off.

I chased after it, hoping that I wouldn't lose track of it in the thick trees and leaves. It bolted through the forest at incredible speeds that even I had trouble keeping up. Finally, it stopped in a clearing where it started grazing in the long grass under it's feet. I got ready to fire my arrow again, when a dark flash whizzed past my head and imbedded itself in the heart of the buck.

I whirled around, searching for whoever dared steal my kill. My eyes set on a hooded figure, about six feet tall with lean muscles and a beautiful longbow slung over his shoulder. He noticed me and quickly bowed,"Hello, Lady Artemis."

"How dare you steal my kill! I should shoot an arrow through your heart this instant!", she screamed as she aimed her bow at his chest.

"I'm so sorry, I did not know that you were going for the same buck that I was. You can take the carcass if that is what you wish," He nervously replied.

"Take off your hood and let me see your face. Or are you another male coward that is too scared to face the world," I taunted. I was furious that anybody would take my buck, let alone a _man._

"I'm sorry, I can't do that. My identity must remain a secret or else it will cause chaos on Olympus. Many of the gods dislike me and would do anything to try and kill me," He turned and sprinted into back into the trees, trying to escape.

I pursued him and shot an arrow at his back, catching him in the shoulder. He barely flinched and grabbed the arrow, yanking it out and throwing it behind him. As he jumped up into a tree, a branch snagged to edge of his hood and causing it to fall off his head. I caught sight of black wavy hair, before he pulled away and ran even faster. I flashed in front of him, blocking his escape.

"You have nowhere to go. Might as well gi-," she said before gasping, "Perseus?"

He said,"Hello Milady, Goodbye." before he dissolved into mist and escaped from my clutches.

I was shocked. After two years, and all this searching, I had finally found him, only to lose him again so easily. I let out a scream of rage and frustration as I realized that he is the first male to ever escape me. Surprisingly, I felt slightly happy that he was still alive and well. It reassured me that the best male to ever live was still alive.

I didn't know when the next time I would see him was though. He had managed to stay hidden for over 2 years, so how much longer could he stay that was. No matter how hard I searched, I knew it would be almost impossible to find him again. He would most likely reveal himself on his own terms. I didn't think he was ready to do that, but maybe, just maybe I could convince him.

I would find him. I swore it on the Styx

(End of Chapter 4)

the guy that loves all gunpla: Thank you so much it means a lot to me! I haven't written very many stories in the past and it feels good to get a compliment like that.

 **A.N: Another chapter finished! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the book so far. This is one of my first stories so I would really appreciate it if you guys review and tell me what I could do better. If you want to flame, then by all means go ahead, although I hope my story is good enough not to get flamed.** **Feel free to P.M me as well. I will definitely respond to any that you guys send me.**


	5. Chapter 5

Percy POV:

 _That was way too close. I need to start being more careful around the area. If I barely managed to get out of there alive and she almost killed me with that arrow_ , I thought just as I flashed away. I reappeared near a cabin along the secluded beach where nobody would find it. I had stayed hidden for 2 years and I wasn't about to be discovered because my house had been found by a wandering god.

I walked into the cabin and and pulled off my hood. The inside of the cabin was far bigger than it should have been considering the outside was the size of a small tent. There were two stories and three bedrooms, with many other pointless rooms around the house. It was magical after all.

My room was simple with just a bed pushed into the corner and a desk on the far side of the room. On it, was a picture of my mother and I smiling happily at the camera. I hadn't seen her seen the beginning of the war and I was starting to really miss her. I couldn't visit her though because I don't want to put her into any unnecessary danger from the gods who may track me to her apartment. Especially Artemis.

I still wondered why every time I thought about her, my heart seemed to jump and I started getting jumpy. When I saw her earlier today, my body froze up and it felt like something was constricting me. If she ever found out about this feeling, then I would be left without a certain male part for the rest of my life. I shuddered just thinking about it.

Speaking of Artemis, she probably already informed Zeus of my whereabouts and now there were search parties sent all over the globe trying to find me. That was of little matter though, because they wouldn't find me. The only people who knew where I was located was my father Poseidon and my cousin Athena.

You see, over the past couple years, Athena and I had become pretty close. I almost considered her an older sister to me. You may be wondering how we developed such a relationship after she hated me so much for dating her daughter.

Flashback (set when he is disappearing):

 _Before I had a chance to walk into the forest, there was a flash of light to my right. Instantly, I had my sword up in front of me, prepared for the battle of my life. I would not give in to any god, not even my father. When I saw Athena standing there, and almost dropped my sword in surprise. Why would Athena come to me now. I thought she hated me. She probably wanted to maim me for letting her daughter die._

 _"I come in peace Perseus. I am here to apologize for my actions in the past. My daughter's death was not your fault and I have realized that. I'm sorry," she blurted in a rushed fashion. Obviously she was nervous about it and it must have taken a lot of her pride to do this for me._

 _"You do not have to apologize, Lady Athena. I understand why you would be angered at me. I was too weak to protect your daughter and I was not worthy of dating her."_

 _"No Perseus, you are the most worthy man that could ever date my daughter. I am glad she got to spend so much time with you before her downfall. She truly was a hero, only second to you," she replied,"In fact, I am not just here to apologize. I want to offer you my blessing because I feel that you will need it for your coming journey as a demigod. You do not need to explain yourself, I already know what you are doing."_

 _I was shocked to say the least. The mother of my deceased girlfriend who had detested me for so long wants to bless me? What made her change her mind?_

 _"I would be honored to accept your blessing, Lady Athena, but why me?" I inquired," I haven't done anything special. There are so many other demigods from the past that have achieved so much more than I have."_

 _She just chuckled,"This is why I say you are the most worthy man of dating my daughter. You are the most loyal, humble and powerful demigod of them all."_

 _She raised her hand and muttered something. A silvery glow enveloped me and suddenly, I felt as if I knew everything. I could see all different types of battle strategies and war tactics floating around in my mind. I actually felt smart for once._

 _"My blessing will allow you to see a tactical way out of every situation and it will also allow you to master any fighting style with very little practice," she explained,"Oh, and take this sword. It was crafted by the giants up in the mountains, made out of the strongest material that could be found, Cryo Copper. It's name is Frostbite(shout out to the guy that loves all gunpla), treat it well. I will try to protect you and keep you out of the radar of the other gods. It should give you some time to be alone."_

 _"Thank you, Lady Athena. Thank for these generous gifts. I'm sure they will come in handy in the future. I hope Olympus is soon restored to it's former glory."_

Flashback End:

From then on, Athena had visited me as often as she could. We would sit in my cabin and talk over the table over cups of coffee and cake. I genuinely enjoyed her company and it made me forget all of my troubles. Over the past couple years, we had developed an extremely close bond and both of us would do anything for the other person. If Athena wanted me to reveal myself to the Olympians, then I would because that was what she wanted. Of course, I hope she wouldn't do that, but I don't think she would ever betray me like that.

Athena had made the days alone much more bearable. It was nice to have someone that would always stand by you no matter what, even though I don't deserve it.

(Line Break)

A week after my little incident with Artemis, I stood in the doorway of my cabin, ready for battle. I had decided that I needed to do something other than sit on my butt all day. I pulled my hood over my head and mist traveled to the middle of a random forest on the globe. I was going hunting for monsters.

Everyday I would travel around and hunt as many monsters as I could in one hour. It was good training for my abilities as well as my sword fighting. It wasn't long before I found a group of Hellhounds. I jumped out of my hiding in a bush, and charged the ugly beasts. They seemed to notice that something was wrong and look in my direction, only to narrow their eyes and crouched down, waiting for the attack.

I slashed Frostbite in an sideways motion, severing it's head from it's body. The others surrounded me and attempted to attack me from all sides. I pushed my fists outwards, and a jet of water shot from each, knocking them back. I quickly finished them off in a similar manner to the first.

And so it went like this for the rest of the day: Monsters charging at him and him slaughtering them with ease, as if he was squashing an ant under his foot(which in reality is actually super hard).

While I was fighting a cyclops, I felt a powerful presence enter the vicinity, no doubt seeking out the source of power I was producing. I'll bet it's one of the Olympians looking to capture me and take me to Olympus and force me into submission.

An arrow flew by my head and killed a harpy flying at me to my left. I turned and saw Artemis with her hunter knives out. _Great, just what I needed. Couldn't the Fates just keep us from meeting again for more than one week?_

If looks could kill, Artemis' would have sent me to the bottom of the Underworld. I gulped. _I think I'm screwed_.

(End of Chapter 5)

the guy that loves all gunpla: Sure! I just made the change to this chapter and gave him a sword named Frostbite. Feel free to give me anymore ideas that you want in the story and I'll try to implement them into the writing. I'm glad you think my story is so great and are enjoying reading it.

Guest: I'm not really sure what you mean by that, but thanks!

MortemPlasmon: The reason my chapters are so short is so that I can update more often and since this is my first story, I'm still experimenting. Would you rather have longer chapters, but less updates? Thank you for the compliment and the review!

 **A.N: Not sure if you guys are actually enjoying this story. I feel like it's moving a little bit slowly, what do you guys think? I know you're probably tired of me saying the same thing after every chapter, Thank for reading, please review! Ok, I'll get out of your face now xD**


	6. Chapter 6

**A.N: Thank you guys so much for 1,500 views in four days! I can't believe my story is getting so many views. I hope you guys are enjoying it so far and I promise I'll be trying to improve the story as it moves along.**

Percy POV:

I turned away, as a bright flash erupted in the middle of the group of hellhounds. I could just make out the figure of a woman standing in the light.

She drew back an arrow and fired it at the remaining hellhound, instantly killing hit. I spun around and held my sword out in case she decided to try and kill me.

"Where have you been these past 2 years?! Everybody has been worried sick about you and you're just have a merry time slaughtering monsters in the middle of the forest," She yelled. She hated to admit it, but she was slightly impressed that he had managed to stay out of the god's sight for so long. It was almost impossible to stay hidden when pretty much every god and goddess was looking out for him, ready to report him to Olympus.

I realized who it was. "I'm sorry, Lady Artemis. These past couple of years have been hard for me. I still haven't quite recovered from the war yet and I don't know if I'm ready to face the world again," I replied.

Her face softened for some reason and her eyes seemed to cool down from the originally fiery hot glare that she had been sending his way. She stowed away her bow leaned her back against a tree. At least I didn't have that thing pointed at me anymore. It was starting to make me a little nervous.

"Well, I think that it's time you make your appearance again. The rest of the council has been searching everywhere for you and they now understand that you are an important part of Olympus," she said.

"What about you? What did you think?" I asked. I knew that this was risky and I could end up with one less limb by the end of this, but I really wanted to know for some reason. I don't know why it mattered to me though. It shouldn't matter what she thought of me.

"Me? Pffft! I down care either way if you come back or not," she replied indignantly.

I guess I should have expected that answer. I was just happy that she hadn't gotten pissed at me for asking such a question.

I made a decision,"Fine, I will come to Olympus with you. I guess it has been more than a long time since the last time I saw anybody other than a select few."

She walked forward and grabbed my shoulder roughly, and a queasy feeling spread throughout my stomach. The moment the world stopped spinning, I kneeled on the floor and threw up my lunch. I'm never going to travel with a god ever again.

As I looked up from the ground, I realized that I was in the throne room, with all the gods watching me in disbelief. Artemis just smirked at my condition, walked over to her throne and sat down.

The Olympians looked shocked to see me after two years.

"Perseus? What are you doing here? And where have you been for the past 2 years?", asked Apollo.

"I'm sorry, I have been on my own in the wild, trying to get over the war and what it did to me. I'm still haunted by nightmares of that day," I said sadly. The gods seemed to understand and some even had looks of sympathy on their faces. None of them would ever know what I went through though. They were gods, they healed faster mentally than any mortal and they were not plagued day after day by the guilt of letting their friends and family die. None of them would _truly_ understand.

"The only people who knew where I was, were my father and Athena," I added. Athena and Poseidon nodded their heads in confirmation.

"You knew where he was and you didn't even tell me?! I am your king and you answer to me. You should be punished for your insolence!" Zeus spat angrily. He had the biggest head of all the gods. His head was literally in the sky (pun intended) and he thought that he had absolute control over every single god. Nobody liked Zeus, and many constantly though about overthrowing him, but were too scared of the repercussions.

"We do not answer to you. You are a terrible leader Zeus and you should not have been king in the first place. Both Hades and I are older and more powerful than you. So if I were you, I would sit still and SHUT YOUR TRAP!" screamed Poseidon.

"I agree father, you have never done anything for good for Olympus. All you have done is brag about your favorite son Hercules and all that he accomplished. Let me tell you this, Hercules was never half the man or the hero that Percy is now," Athena growled.

Zeus looked like he was about to protest, but stopped at the looks the rest of the council was giving him. He slumped in his chair and tried to glare back, but the intensity of his glare was nothing compared to the heated looks of the others. Obviously, nobody thought he was a competent leader, even his own wife, who was glaring at him with as much hate as the rest of the gods.

"As I was saying, Athena and Poseidon have been a huge help to my mental health after the war. They were the only ones who were there for me even after everything. If not for them, I would be wasted in some bar, drying to drown out my misery with alcohol," I said and looked at them gratefully. They were my last lifeline that kept me going and made me hope that everything would be restored to how it used to be.

I knew that this was false hope, but I couldn't help but believe that it may be possible. But it would not be, there was not was to compensate for the damage physically and emotionally that the war caused.

"What are your plans from here on out? Would you be willing to go back to Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter?" asked Hera. I had never really liked her, much, but she seemed to be more respectful towards demigods since after the war. Of course I wouldn't know because I was stuck in a log cabin for 2 years.

"I don't think that I would want to go back there. To many memories are held there and it just wouldn't be the same without my friend there. I would rather have a job on Olympus if that is possible."

"I have an idea!" squealed Aphrodite," how about he become a full time model! He's definitely better looking than any other male out there."

"NO! I will not be a model. I would rather keep my integrity thank you very much," I quickly declined.

"I have a much better, much more _reasonable_ idea," said Athena, looking pointedly at Aphrodite," How about you become something of a guardian for all the demigods that have not been claimed yet. Us gods are restricted by the ancient laws, but you are not. You could help save the young demigods that have not yet realized that the greek myths are real.

 _Is this really what I want? I don't know how much longer I can stay in solitude. It would be best if was doing something that would help all demigods and making sure that none of them end like me. On the other hand, every time I try to help, the problems ends up worse._

"I think... that I would like that. I would enjoy helping young demigods find their way into the true world. Every one of them deserves a chance to prove themselves and learn the truth about the the gods," I consented after a minute.

"You will need a godly trainer, somebody that would be hard on you, but also teach you what you need to know for this job. I think I know just the person," Athena said with a wink that only I saw.

"And who might that be," I asked cautiously. She had a mischievous glint in her eyes and I knew that she was planning something. The last time she had that look, I ended up in a hospital bed with severe burns on my buttocks. Don't ask.

"Artemis!" Athena yelled excitedly," She's perfect for the job. Good at fighting. And hates you."

"WHAT?!" we both shouted simultaneously. If she trained me, she would kill me on the first day and make it look like an accident.

"All in favor?" All hands went up except Zeus' and Ares',"I guess it's decided then, Artemis will train Percy everyday until he is ready to become the Guardian of Olympus."

This was going to be a disaster.

Artemis POV:

Why do I have to train him? He's just going to fool around. I felt myself, grin malevolently, I'm going to make sure that his life is as miserable as possible.

(Line Break)

The next day, we stood in the arena with our weapons out. This was going to be _soooo_ fun. Note the incredible amount of sarcasm in my voice.

"We are going to start with sparring. We are not going to stop until you defeat me, I don't care if we're out here for two weeks," I told him.

This was going to be fun. As a goddess, I would never tire and I could stay out here forever. Him on the other hand, he's going to suffer. Surprisingly, he didn't complain about it as I thought he would.

I slashed one of my knives at him, hoping to incapacitate him with a single blow, but he was quick to block with his sword. He swung his ice sword towards her throat and I barely managed to parry with my other knife. _He's better than I thought_.

I decided to fight my hardest and finish the job before it got out of hand. I was a blur of motion, my knives spinning and flashing in the light so fast that only a god's eye could keep up. Somehow, he managed to block every single strike easily and it looked like he was taking it easy on me. _How is he so good? I will not lose to a demigod boy!_ I sped up my attacks as fast as I could, and yet all I managed to do was make myself out of breath. He hadn't even broken a sweat yet.

Finally, he seemed to take pity on me and finish me off swiftly. He ducked one of my knives and stepped into my defenses, putting his sword under my throat.

"Yeild?"

I nodded feebly, yet angrily. Never in my life had I ever been defeated so easily and humiliated like that. I was known as the best fighter out of all the Olympians and he had managed to beat me so cleanly. Not a scratch on his body. I'm not sure how got so good. After all, he had spent more than 2 years in the middle of the forest living in a log cabin with little no contact with the outside world. He must have spent most of that time training and becoming better with his sword.

I was still bitter about the loss and I felt like I needed to do something to get him back. I knew of one thing for sure that he was terrible at.

"Fine! You defeated me, but now you are going to need to master archery. That is your next task and if you fail then you will never become the Guardian of Olympus," I said with an evil glint in my eye.

"A-a-Archery?" he stuttered. His face paled drastically and sweat started to form around his collar. I smirked. I knew I had him here. He was one of the worst archers I had ever seen in my life and it would take a lifetime for him to even learn to shoot and arrow forwards. It would be fun watching him suffer and fail time after time again.

I gave him an extra bow and made sure that I stood 20 feet behind him while instructing him. I told him to get into shooting position and was appalled at how terrible it was. His posture was crooked and he looked like an old man, with his back hunched and shoulders slumped. At this rate we would be here for the next 20 years trying to get his form straightened out before we even got to shooting at all.

I then instructed him to release the arrow just to see how bad his aim was. Before I could react, something whizzed past my ear, barely grazing it and thudding into the wall behind me. I whirled around and saw the arrow, still quivering stuck in the middle of the bullseye of a target behind me!

I turned back around and saw Perseus looking at me with a sheepish and slightly fearful look on his face.

"At least I hit the bullseye," He chuckled nervously. I stormed up to him and slapped him in the face, leaving a red handprint on his cheek.

"Hit the bullseye?! Hit the bullseye?! You could have killed me and all you say is 'At least I hit the bullseye'?!" I screeched. Oh he was going to get it. He wouldn't even be able to stand after I was done with him.

"I-I'm s-sorry, My Lady. Please don't kill me," he squeaked. If I didn't want to kill him, I would have laughed at his face right now. But unfortunately, I did want to kill him. I chased him around the arena with my knives drawn, trying maim him. Finally, I caught up to him and pinned him against the wall.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't do it on purpose, I swear on the Styx," he said as he pleaded for mercy.

"This was your one and only warning. The only reason why I haven't already run you through is because the other gods would be furious at me if I killed you on the first day, but you better not do this again," I snarled at him, stabbing my knife beside his head to make the point,"Get back over there and get to work. I do not tolerate slackers."

He quickly scrambled over to the bow and got back into shooting position.

And so it went, me teaching Perseus and trying to correct his terrible archery day after day. I was starting to get irritated with his lack of skill and talent. Teaching a rock would have been easier. At least you don't have to risk your life trying to teach a rock. The stupid thing was, he always seemed to have the best luck when shooting backwards. Every time I tried to move the target to a different location behind him. He still managed to hit the bullseye unintentionally. I didn't even know that it was physically possible for an arrow to fly from the bow through your two feet.

It was going to be a very very long time before either of us were able to stop with these ridiculous training sessions. At this rate, global warming would take over the Earth before we were done with this training.

(End of Chapter 6)

MortemPlasmon: You can let me know what you would rather have. I'll try to make the chapters a little longer from now on like this one. Thanks for the support!

Wulfkin17: I'm glad you think my story is good. Is there anything that you want me do change? You can make suggestions and I'll try to change the story as I see fit. Thanks for reviewing.

the guy who loves all gunpla: No problem. Like I've already said, I want this story to be very interactive between writer and reader.

brodylopa: Thank you! :)

 **A.N This chapter is longer than any of the other ones that I have posted so far. I hoped you liked it as much as the other ones. Thanks again for showing so much support of this story! Tell me if there is anything you would want me to change about it. I won't change the entire plot, but I'm more than open to small suggestions or requests. In the next chapter I will be introducing the threat in the story.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A.N: I feel like this chapter was a little bit worse than ideal, but I hope that it is bearable to read. I promise that I'll do better in the next chapter. I'm still trying to figure out how to progress with Percy and Artemis' relationship.**

(In the Depths of Tartarus)

The cloaked figure kneeled in front of him and waited for orders.

The foolish gods could not rule the world properly. They needed be thrown out of their position of power. He had the perfect man for the job.

"I need you to assassinate that so called hero Perseus Jackson. He has been a thorn in my side for far too long. I need to make sure he stays out of my way," He growled.

"Of course, Master. It will be done. Perseus Jackson will be dead by the end of the week, I can assure you of that," the cloaked figure bowed as he replied," is there anything else that you wish of me, Master?"

"That will be all. Do not fail me," He said. The agent bowed and disappeared into the shadows.

The Olympians were weak and with his power, he could easily overthrow them. The only thing that was holding them back was that stupid hero Perseus Jackson. He was not a normal demigod and something seemed off about his power. It was as if there was a block on the true volume of his strength. No matter though, his assassin had never failed a mission and he wasn't about to start now.

Once Olympus was a pile of ashes, and the heavens came crashing to the ground, he would personally travel to the Underworld and show that hero Perseus Jackson just how powerless he was to save the world. He would relish the look of pain and anguish on his face.

Olympus will fall, he would see to it.

Percy POV:

I hated this training. I couldn't shoot the bow straight no matter what I tried. I can't believe Artemis was making me master archery before I could end this stupid training and become the Guardian of Olympus. While I'm going through this useless training, there was probably a young demigod being attacked by monsters right now. I should be there to help them, but because I'm stuck here.

Every day followed the same regimen. Get up, eat breakfast, go to the arena, train, train, train, go home, shower, go to bed. The days soon became repetitive and boring. It almost felt like I was a robot, programmed to do the same thing over and over again.

My "trainer" was not helping either. Every time I did something wrong that she didn't like, she would insult me and ramble on about how incompetent men were. Frankly, I was tired of all the screaming. I didn't want to be rude to a goddess, but she needed to know that I am not like most other men. One training session, while she was on another rant about how idiotic I was and I snapped.

"CAN YOU JUST BE QUIET! ALL YOU EVER DO IS INSULT ME AND TELL ME ALL ABOUT MY PROBLEMS! I'M TRYING MY BEST TO COOPERATE WITH YOU, BUT IT'S, NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE WHEN YOU'RE CONSTANTLY SCREAMING AT ME! I JUST WANT TO LEARN HOW TO SHOOT THIS ****ING BOW AND GET OUT OF HERE!" I yelled, cutting her off.

She looked at me in disbelief and something that looked suspiciously close to guilt. I could tell that she did not expect me to even think about talking back to her in fear of being hurt or killed.

"Look, I'm sorry for yelling, but I'm just sick and tired of all your prejudice. At least give me a chance and if you decide that I'm just like every male out there, then you can yell and scream at me all you want. Heck, you can even kill me if you want. I know that's what you wanted all along," I said calming down a bit. She seemed to realize what I had just said and had let it sink in.

"No, I should be the one to apologize. You've done everything I've said and not complained even once. It was unfair of me to say the things I said about you. And no, I have never wanted to kill you. Sometimes, I just lose my patience," She said through gritted teeth (As I said earlier, Artemis will be a little more reasonable in this story than most). I could tell that it was extremely hard for her to apologize and she took a blow to her pride by saying that. I was grateful for the fact that she went through all that trouble just to tell that she was sorry.

"I will only forgive you if you start treating me with a little more respect. I'm not saying that you have to be friends with me, but at least don't judge me the same way you judge other males," I replied.

She sighed and gave in,"Very well, I will try not to blow up on you any more."

I nodded at motioned back to the practice range, readying my bow. This time, when my posture was bad, Artemis didn't snap at me like she usually did, although it was obvious that she was tempted to.

She corrected my posture and made sure that I was ready to fire. As I released the arrow, something miraculous happened. The arrow actually flew forwards!

I looked on as the arrow flew towards the target and stick in the outer ring. I almost screeched in delight. I had managed to shoot forwards _and_ hit the target. All it took was for Artemis to not yell at me for one shot. I couldn't control myself and suddenly hugged Artemis, squeezing her tight against my chest, before quickly realizing what I had done. I let her down as quickly as I had picked her up and almost wet my pants in fear that she would kill me or do something worse.

When nothing happened, I looked and was shocked. Her cheeks were tinged red. The Big Bad Goddess of the Hunt was actually blushing! I decided that I had nothing to lose and pushed the situation to a dangerous level.

"Awwwwwww, is wittle Arty blushing?"

"Shut up! No, I was not blushing, how dare you say accuse me of such a thing! And don't you dare call me Arty!" she said threateningly, but her cheeks grew even redder.

"Good job shooting the arrow forward and all, but you still have a lot of work to do," She said,"You will practice every single day until you can consistently hit the bullseye. And in return for teaching you how to use a bow, I want a favor from you. _Uh-oh. I wonder what this could be._ The way her mouth opened and her eyes showed reluctance. _What could she ask for that she doesn't even want to ask me. I would expect her to pounce on an opportunity to make me work._

"Gods, I can't believe I'm asking this, but would you be willing to teach me how you fought like that before. I think I could learn a thing or two from you," she said obviously embarrassed. _Did she really just ask that? I expected her to have me do some impossible quest that would probably kill me in the end. Wow, I never thought I would see the day when the man hating goddess would want to be taught by a boy. I guess it wouldn't be too much trouble if we're already here anyways._

 _"_ Sure, Arty. If that is what you want, then how can I disobey the orders of an Olympian goddess," I teased her. It felt good to joke around with her, even if there was a high chance that one of my jokes would take it too far and I would end up a pile of ashes by the end of the day.

"DON'T CALL ME ARTY!" she screamed at me, a furious look on her face. Well, that was my queue. I bolted.

(Line break)

Over the next couple of weeks, Artemis taught me how to aim the arrow and shoot while moving. She had not once lost her patience with me and had always been willing to reexplain something if I didn't understand it. This was a big step in my relationship with her and I was hoping that we could actually start to form a friendship.

I had also started teaching her in hand-to-hand combat as well as, knife and sword fighting. There wasn't much to teach though as she was an expert in both of those weapons. She just needed some touching up on her form and technique.

A month later, I was ready to begin my job. I had mastered the bow and arrow almost to the point that I could beat Artemis in a bow battle. It turned out that I actually had an high affinity for it, I just needed the proper teaching to bring it out. Artemis had also made significant progress with her knives, going head to head with me almost all the time. She was beating more and more frequently over the time we trained together. Now it was time for me to become the Guardian of Olympus. We wouldn't be training together anymore and I'm not going to lie, it disappointed me a little.

Before we went our separate ways, I stopped her and looked her in the eye.

"Thank you, Lady Artemis. I have learned more this past couple of months then I have from all my years at Camp Half-Blood. I never thought that I would ever be able to use a bow," I thanked her sincerely. There was something else I wanted to ask her as well,"I wanted to know if you would become my friend. I don't have very many of those these days. The only people that I really talked to in the past 2 years was Athena and Poseidon. It would be nice if you accepted, but I would understand if you wanted nothing to do with me after this training." I looked nervously at her and fidgeted with my hands. I didn't know the consequences of my question, but really hope that if she were to reject me, it wouldn't be too harshly or voilently for that matter.

She smiled gently and said,"I would be honored Perseus. I myself do not have too many friends either."

"Thank you."

She smiled again and flashed out, leaving me there grinning like an idiot.

(Line break)

Two hours later and I was standing in front of the Olympian Council again.

"Perseus Jackson," boomed Zeus,"You have successfully complete your training and you are now ready to become the Guardian of Olympus. I hope you take this role very seriously, as it would be a shame if you ended up dead."

I could hear the threatening tone in his voice. I knew that he wanted more than anything else to smite me right where I stood and get rid of me forever.

"Of course, Lord Zeus."

Athena spoke up,"You will need to take an oath of loyalty to Olympus and then you shall be appointed guardian."

"I, Perseus Jackson, swear on the Styx that I will never betray Olympus and that I will do everything in my power to protect them and their demigod children," I vowed.

The Council accepted the offer and a golden glow enveloped me. I could feel power flowing through me and rushing to my fingertips.

"You just received the combined blessing of the entire Council. We also grant the Guardian of Olympus partial immortality, meaning that you can die in battle, but not from aging of diseases. You will be able to feel when a demigod is in need of help and their exact location," Artemis explained.

"Thank you, I am honored with these gifts and I promise not to waste them. I will protect every last demigod with my life," I said.

"We know you will Percy," said Poseidon, and many of the other Olympians nodded along in agreement. I suddenly felt a tingle in the back of my brain, immediately knew that it was a demigod in need.

"I have been called. I guess I will take my leave now unless there is something else you would like to discuss?" I asked urgently. They shook their head and they motioned with get a move on.

I mist traveled to the location of the signal. Instantly my eyes narrowed and my hands clenched in anger at what I saw.

(End of Chapter 7)

the guy who loves all gunpla: Thank you! Nobody exiled Percy, he chose to separate himself because he thought he was hurting those around him. Sorry if I made a mistake earlier in the story that you might have caught.

Wulkin17: Thanks for the constructive feedback. No, I didn't take the review negatively. In fact, I enjoyed hearing what I would do better with my story. You made me realize a huge mistake in my writing and I made a few tweaks to the last chapter. Anymore feedback is appreciated!

ghostchilli666: I know right? PERTEMIS FTW!

 **A.N: Artemis will never really hate Percy in this story because she already holds some respect for him after he held up the sky for her. I'm sorry if this chapter was disappointing to you. I didn't really know what do write about the training and I was a little stuck on details. The next chapter will definitely be a lot better than this one. Sorry guys.**

 **P.S:** **From now on, the chapters will be around this length or probably longer. I'll aim for around 2,000-3,000 thousand words from now on.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A.N: This chapter might be a little disturbing too some readers. I would advise skipping some of it if you do not want to read anything of the type.**

Percy POV:

I reappeared inside a dirty apartment. There was stains on the walls, and empty beer bottles littering the ground. The stench of sweat and alcohol filled the air and it almost made me gag. The worst part war right in the middle of the room.

A man stood above a small girl with a belt in his hands. He had obviously drank too many beers and was now drunk. The little girl was shivering and sobbing in pain. There were red welts covering her arms and body, making here skin look almost unrecognizable.

"Stupid girl! I told you to get me another bottle of beer! You'll be sorry you disobeyed me!" He snarled at her, as he wound up his arm to strike the girl across the face. In the blink of an eye, I was behind him, holding onto his wrist so that he couldn't hit the girl. He jerked back in surprise and whirled around to face me.

"Who the hell are you?! How did you get into my house. It doesn't matter, I'm gonna kill you then I'm gonna finish the job with the girl," He roared.

I sneered at him,"You think you can beat a little girl to near death and not pay for your crimes? You're going to die tonight and it's not going to be pleasant." The man started to look a little bit nervous, but charged at me anyways, belt raised high. I unsheathed Frostbite and slashed his stomach open. I could see him organs spilling out, but I gave him no mercy, still keeping him alive with my powers.

"You will feel every bit of pain that I inflict on you until I am satisfied that you have learned your lesson. You will not die until I am done with your punishment and then you will spend an eternity in the Fields of Punishment in constant pain and suffering," I said coldly to him. I took my sword and stabbed it into his arm and pulled out a knife, stabbing his other arm, holding him in place. I was just getting started.

(Line break)

By the time I was done with him, he looked little more than a blob of blood and bones, yet he was still alive, feeling all the pain. Finally, I sent him to the Underworld, stabbing him in the heart and releasing my power, letting him die. I grunted in disgust and wiped the blood off my fingers on the one clean section of his shirt. It was only then, that I realized the little girl had been watching the entire time in fear.

I sighed and approached her. She immediately scrambled away from me in fear, cowering underneath the bed that was tucked into the corner of the room.

"Get away from me!"

"I'm not going to hurt. I came to free you from that monster of a man. Don't worry, I don't think he'll be hurting you anymore," I tried to speak as gently as possible.

"You're lying! I saw what you did to him. You're going to do the same things to me!"

"I promise that I won't do anything to hurt you. I'm just here to help," I replied. To prove what I said, I dropped all of my weapons onto the floor and pushed them away with my foot. The girl seemed to trust me a little more and slowly inched her way out from under the bed. When her body was completely out in the open, I held up my hands to show her that I didn't have anything to hurt her.

She looked young enough to be in preschool still, but her eyes showed more suffering than most people would face in their entire life. My hands shook as I wondered what that vile man had done to her. Now I knew why Artemis was so against most men. There were so many terrible males out there who would do anything for power and riches.

"Who are you and how did you know what my uncle was doing to me?" she asked suspiciously

"My name is Perseus, but you can call me Percy. The reason I came, is because I am sort of like a guardian angel to all demigods like you," I replied.

"What's a demigod?"

"A demigod is somebody like you or me. One of our parents are mortal, and the other one is one of the greek gods like my father. I am a son of Poseidon," I explained.

"God's are fake! Stop lying to me," she said.

"Look, I'll prove it to you. My father, Poseidon is the god of the sea, so I have control over water," I said, and raised my hand. A spiral of water flowed up my hand and formed into a ball in my palm. The girl looked at me in awe.

"How did you do that?"

"Like I said, my father is a god just like one of your parents. In time, you can learn to control your powers just like me, whatever they might be. Based on your personality, I would guess that you are a daughter of Athena or Poseidon. You could be my sister!"

"Oh I get it. Thank you for saving me Percy. I don't think I could stand another strike from my uncle's belt," she said, hugging me. She only reached up to my waist, so I bent down and wrapped my arms around her small body.

"What's your name, little one. And how old are you?"

"My name is Ashley and I am turning 8 in two weeks," she said excitedly. I could tell that she had spent most of her birthdays taking beatings from her uncle. Now that she was free, she could actually look forward to the special occasion and maybe even have a chance to celebrate. _I should have tortured him more. He deserves whatever is coming for him in the Underworld. I will make sure Hades sends his worst torturer._

Suddenly, a blue trident shown brightly above the young girl's head. Her godly parent had claimed her and she was my sister. At that moment, I vowed to protect her and raise her like she should have been raised since the moment she was born. She was my sister and I would give her all the love that she had been deprived of.

"Let's get you cleaned up, and then we can take you to see Father. I'm sure he would be delighted to see his daughter. I know he will love you so much," I said.

"If daddy really loved me, why didn't he come to see me or save me from my uncle. Why did he leave when mommy died and abandon me to him in the first place?" she cried.

"Our dad is not like a mortal. He is bound by laws that make him unable to have any contact with his demigod children. If you come with me, then we can go see him and you can decide whether or not you want to forgive him," I answered.

"Ok Percy!"

"First, I'm going to do something that may seem scary, but I can assure you that it will not hurt," I promised. She nodded. I raised my hand a a bubble of blue film encased her. Her wounds started to heal and there was no longer and sign of skin damage or the red welts left by the belt. Her eyes widened in amazement before she jumped at me and hugged me, thanking me profusely. I smiled and hugged her back, glad that she was okay.

"I'm going to mist travel us to Father's palace ok? It might feel a little weird," I said. She nodded again, seeming to trust me. We dissolved into mist and soon, we were standing in the middle of the throne room at my Father's palace. Poseidon was sitting at his throne, with Triton and Amphitrite (His son and wife) sitting to his left and right.

"Percy! My son, I'm glad you're here, but why have you c-," He started before his eyes set on the little girl in my arms. His face showed guilt and I knew that he was thinking about how he had to leave her to her uncle.

"Ummm... Let's go to my quarters where we have a little more privacy," He said, furtively glancing at Amphitrite. I nodded and we made our way down a grand hall into the bedroom where he and his wife slept. He turned around and held his arms out. I handed him the small child in my arms carefully.

"Sorry about that. You know how Amphitrite hates my demigod children," He apologized. Oh, I had first hand experience in that all right. Every time she saw me, it was like she wanted to stab me with her trident and dispose of me in the deepest part of the ocean.

"I found her in a run down apartment building being beaten by her uncle. Why didn't send her somewhere that she doesn't get beaten half to death every single day," I accused. The guilt came back on his face and I could tell that he did feel remorse for his decision.

"I'm sorry, I had no other choice. Her mother died in a car accident a couple years ago and she didn't have any other relatives. It was either this, or she would be stranded on her own in the middle of the forest just waiting for a monster to kill her," he said sadly.

"It is not me that you should be apologizing to. It is her."

Poseidon gently held the little girl out in front of him and looked into her eyes, before he pulled her to his chest and held her there while he spoke.

"I'm so so sorry, Ashley. There was nothing I could do for you. Trust me, if I could have, I would have taken you away from that man. I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive your dear ol papa," He said, looking hopefully into her sea green eyes. His only answer was a pair of little arms wrapping their way around his neck. He smiled contently and let out a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, he pulled away and looked seriously into my eyes.

"I know this may be a lot to ask, but it is the best option. Can you raise her and care for her as she grows up? She needs somebody in her life like you, who will do anything to keep her safe," he pleaded.

I smiled," I was already going to do that dad. She looked so helpless when I arrived and I think will need somebody to help her heal. You won't have to worry about her, I'll treat her well."

He smiled back gratefully and pulled back from Ashley.

"Are you ok? You haven't said a word since you got here. Are you still mad at me or did I do something wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"I'm ok daddy. I'm just so happy that you didn't abandon me like I thought you did. And now I have a big brother that will take care of me. We can have my first birthday part!" She replied. Dad had tears in his eyes and he pulled her back into a hug before he handed her back to me.

"Unfortunately, I need to return to my duties, but you are welcome to visit whenever you want. I trust that you will take good care of her."

"Of course father. She won't stub her toe without me there for her," I pledged. He gave her one last hair ruffle and walked out of the room. I mist traveled us back to my cabin on the beach and walked up the stairs to the guest bedroom. As I set her down on the bed, she grabbed my arm and pulled me towards her.

"Sleep with me Percy. I'm scared of the dark and I have never had anybody to comfort me at night," she requested. I relented and snapped my fingers, changing my clothes for a set of pajamas. I lay down on the bed and held the little girl in my warm arms, making sure that she was safe and sound. When I looked at her face to check if she was still awake, I saw that her eyes were closed and her breathing was even as she slept peacefully for the first time in forever. Before I lay back, I heard her murmur,"Thank you, big brother."

I grinned and lay down on the bed, falling asleep almost instantly and joining her in the Realm of Morpheus.

(End of Chapter 8)

MortemPlasmon: You don't need to feel obligated to respond to every chapter, but I appreciate it. Anyway, I will probably keep this length of story for now.

ghostchilli666: Pertemis is probably my favorite ship so I totally agree with you. PERTEMIS WOO HOO!

the guy who loves all gunpla: Not much I can respond to that, but thanks again I guess lol.

 **A.N: There you guys go! A new chapter completed. We just hit 3,000 views! Thank you guys so much for the constant support. I haven't had a single negative review yet and I've even gotten some constructive feedback. You guys are the best!**

 **P.S: The next one will be Percy taking Ashley to see Artemis and maybe even starting up the Hunt again. Comment if you guys would like to see that.**


	9. Chapter 9

Percy POV:

I woke up in the guest bedroom of my house next to little girl who was still asleep. Yesterday's events rushed back to me and I subconsciously hugged the little girl closer to my body. I laid my head back on the pillow and waited for Ashley to wake up as I didn't want to be the one to break that peaceful expression.

Ten minutes later, she woke up and immediately scrambled off the bed. She looked confused and scared at first, but when she saw me, her stiff posture relaxed.

"You're safe now, Ashley. You don't have to worry about waking up to your horrible uncle anymore," I said soothingly. She came over and climbed back on the bed, hugging me tightly.

"Thank you, Percy. You're the best big brother ever!" She exclaimed. I chuckled loudly and led her to the bathroom down the hall.

"We need to get you cleaned up."

I helped change her out of her pajamas into some day clothes and then brushed her teeth for her. We made our way down the stairs and into the kitchen where I pulled out different ingredients for breakfast.

"What would you like to eat for breakfast?" I asked.

"Pancakes and spaghetti waffles!" she said excitedly. I wasn't exactly sure how to make spaghetti waffles, but I would try anyways. While I was cooking the pancakes, I remembered that I hadn't seen my mom for over 2 years, since the beginning of the war. She was going to kill me for not coming to see her. When she's mad, I would rather face an angry Artemis who wants to kill me than her. I shivered at the thought.

I finished with the pancakes and realized that I had added blue food coloring out of habit. _I hope she doesn't think too much of it. Anyways, how do I make spaghetti waffles._ I prepared the noodles and the sauce while making the waffles in a pan. After preparing the spaghetti, I laid some down on a waffle and folded it over to create a spaghetti-waffle taco.

I served the food and the minuted the plates touched the table she was off. She ate ravenously, not even stopping to question the blue pancakes. _Man, I guess she hasn't eaten like this in forever._ By the time she had eaten her fill, there were only a few morsels of food left for me, but I didn't mind. I would gladly starve just so that she could eat until she was full.

I chuckled at her,"Was it good?"

She nodded enthusiastically as her mouth was still stuffed with spaghetti. I picked up a napkin and wiped her face, before asking her," What would you like to do today?" She shrugged.

"I have a friend that I would like you to meet. She is a god just like Father, except of course she is not male and she's very nice as well. Would you like to go see her today?" I asked.

"Ok," she replied.

I scooped her up in my arms and mist traveled to Olympus making sure that she was holding on tight. We reappeared in the middle of a busy street right in front of my least favorite Olympian.

"Perseus! How great for you to come here! I see you have become even more handsome since the last time we met," Aphrodite squealed. I inwardly groaned and gritted my teeth while I replied," Hello, Lady Aphrodite. I'm honored that you think so. Look, we are in quite a hurry though so I apologize that we can't talk for longer."

"Oh ok," she said disappointed, but immediately perked up again," You can come by my palace any time you want and I can teach you how to really have fun." She winked at me and continued walking past, smiling a dazzling smile at me as she passed. I shook my head and started walking towards our destination.

"Percy, who was that? She seemed a little bit weird and she looked kind of ugly," Ashley said in my arms. I grinned at her words and nodded in agreement.

"Her name is Aphrodite, she is the goddess of ugliness and grime. Stay away from her, she'll turn you into a monster if you so much as look at her. The only reason I was able to resist her spell was because she has something of a crush on me," I said while smirking.

"I'll make sure to stay away from her. I don't want to be turned into an ugly monster like her," She said.

I knew that it probably wasn't right to lie to her like that, but it would be just too funny watching her call Aphrodite ugly and avoid looking at her.

We continued walking down the busy street until we reached a silver palace on the side of the road. I walked up to it and knocked on the door, hoping that was home. After a minute, I hear the sound of a lock unlocking and the door opened revealing Artemis in her usual hunting garments. She looked surprised to see me, but even more surprised by the little girl in my arms.

"Hello, Artemis, this is my little sister Ashley. I saved her from her abusive uncle and brought her to my home to care for her. Ashley, say hello to Artemis," I coaxed.

"Hello, Artemis. Percy said that you are a very nice person. He also said that you are not a man," She greeted while giggling. Artemis raised her eyebrow at me and I blushed a deep red.

"Hello Ashley, my name is Artemis and I am indeed not a man," She said while smirking. I put Ashley on the ground and let her take Artemis's outstretched hand, leading her into the house.

"I'm going to need to leave right now. I have to attend some business that needs to be taken care of. Would you please take care of her for a few hours while I am gone?" I ask hopefully. Artemis nods and leads Ashley into the kitchen before they disappear behind the wall. _Artemis will be good for her. She needs a mother figure in her life as well. Wait, does that mean that I'm the father figure?_ I blushed at the thought and shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.

I mist traveled away and back to the house to prepare my gear. Putting on my armor and strapping on my weapons, I slid Frostbite out of it's sheath. It was truly a beautiful sword, with engravings on near the bottom of the blade. The blade was an icy color, almost transparent, but it looked as deadly as ever. I resheathed it and went for a final check of my gear. I probably wouldn't need it, but I had learned from experience that you should never go out into the world unarmed.

When I was satisfied, I mist traveled away. I needed to go meet my mother after 2 years of not seeing her. I just hoped that she wouldn't kill be too painfully. I appeared near the front door of her apartment and raised my fist to knock before hesitating. _If I knock, there is no turning back. Well unless I want to Ding-Dong-Ditch that is. I think it is time that I come home though._ I rapped my knuckles on the door and waited for answer. It didn't take long before I heard footsteps leading to the front door and the latch being opened. There stood my mom.

She looked like she had aged five years since the last time I saw her. It was as if she had been worried and stressed out about something for a long time. _Oh wait. Uh-oh,_ I thought as I realized what was causing this. She must have been worrying about me for the past two years, and now here I was.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" she asked. Her voice sounded fragile and it cracked in the middle of her question.

"You don't recognize me? You did give birth to me and raise me for two thirds of my life," I said feigning hurt. She looked at me confused for a second, before her eyes grew wide and her mouth opened slightly.

"Hi Mom," I said sheepishly. Her eyes welled up with tears and her body started to tremble. Before I could do anything, I was wrapped in a hug that would make Tyson jealous. Suddenly she pulled back and slapped me in the face. Hard. I was momentarily blinded by the pain before another slap was given to the other cheek.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! I'VE BEEN HERE WORRYING FOR YOU, THINKING THAT YOU'RE DEAD. YOU HAVEN'T VISITED ME ONCE FOR 2 YEAR! 2 YEAR!" she screamed at me.

"I'm sorry Mom. I've been in the wild on my own for the past 2 years with barely any contact from the outside world. I just needed some time to myself after the war. Please forgive me," I said while hugging me again. She sobbed into my chest as I held her.

Paul came around the corner looking confused,"Who's there? Why were you screaming so loudly?" He saw his wife hugging a random stranger boy and immediately assumed that I was trying to do something to her.

"Hey! What are you doing to my wife, boy. And why are you hugging him back, Sally. We don't even know him!" He shouted obviously paranoid.

"Paul, we do know him. Look at his eyes and tell me you don't recognize him." Paul stared into my eyes before recognition shone on his face. His frown turned right-side up into a huge grin that covered his entire face.

"Percy? Is that really you?"

"Hey Paul, glad to see you too," I said, letting go of my mother and giving Paul a hug.

"Wow, I can't believe you're really here. It's been so long since I've seen you. What have you been doing these past two years," he asked.

"Let's talk about this where it's a little more private," I said.

They led me inside and there on the kitchen table was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. A huge plate of blue cookies stacked high with yummy goodness. I rushed the the table and started stuffing my face with cookies.

"Percy! Stop acting like a slob and stealing the cookies," she scolded.

"Sorry Mom. I haven't eaten blue cookies in 2 years. I was suffering from withdrawal," I said, still stuffing my face. Mom looked at me with a amused smile on her face as she shook her head. As I finished my mouthful I sat the couch and waited for the to sit down. They leaned forwards in their seats, excited to hear about my last 2 years living in the wild.

I explained to them everything that had happened over the past couple years including the training with Artemis and saving Ashley. After I was done they both hugged me and told me how happy they were that I was starting to recover.

"I'm sorry, but I need to get back to Artemis and Ashley. I left her at with Artemis so that I could come here."

They looked is disappointed but said,"Ok, but make sure you visit often. We want to IM me every week so that we know you haven't run off on your own again."

As I walked out the front door, I sensed something off. I pushed it down and mist traveled back to my cabin to put my gear away, before I went to pick up Ashley. Before I could reach the front door, a sword appeared in front of me blocking my path. I looked up to see a black figure, clouded in shadows, smiling down menacingly at me. His head was hooded so that I could only see his mouth and part of his nose.

"My master will be happy when I bring back your dead body," he snarled and swung his sword towards my neck.

(End of Chapter 9)

the guy who loves all gunpla: Shame on them. You should stop hanging out with them. I just kidding. It's cool, not everybody has to like pertemis.

Draconic King: Sorry if it was a little disturbing. I tried to give warning, but you may not have seen it. And I agree, it is kind of adorable.

ghostchilli666: HaHa! He has. Thanks for the review.

 **A.N: This chapter is a little short on detail, but I hope it's fine. Thanks for reading this chapter and thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows!**

 **P.S: Tell me if you guys think the story is moving a little too slowly and I can try to pick the pace up. This chapter in particular is a bit slower than others though.**


	10. Chapter 10

Artemis POV:

I was just getting out of bed when I heard a knock on my door. Probably another one of those disgusting, drooling suitors that come to my door every morning. I groaned, got up and changed into my hunting clothes, before stalking to the front door and looking out the peephole. The man I saw standing there surprised me. Perseus was outside the palace with a little girl in his arms.

I immediately swung the door wide open. Perseus looked a little nervous, no doubt thinking that I would kill him for showing up at my palace without notice.

"Hello, Artemis, this is my little sister Ashley. I saved her from her abusive uncle and brought her to my home to care for her. Ashley, say high to Artemis," He coaxed. The girl he had called Ashley

"Hello, Artemis. Percy said that you are a very nice person. He also said that you are not a man," She said giggling lightly. I raised her eyebrow at Perseus and he blushed a deep red.

"Hello Ashley, my name is Artemis and I am indeed not a man,"I said. He put Ashley on the ground and I held out my hand for her. She take my outstretched hand, I lead her into the house.

Before I could make it very far, Perseus called out,"I'm going to need to leave right now. I have to attend some business that needs to be taken care of. Would you please take care of her for a few hours while I am gone?" I nodded. _How hard can it be to take care of one little girl. I had 20 before my hunters died._ I suddenly remembered my fallen hunters and grew sad at the thought. On the outside, it may seem like I have fully recovered, but it still hurt me every time I thought about them.

I shook of the thoughts and continued to lead Ashley into the kitchen. We continued walking down an adjoining hallway and into my training room. I planned to teach her archery as it was a fundamental skill if you are little girl like Ashley.

"Ok Ashley, do you know what a bow is?" I asked.

"She nodded," Yeah. Percy has one that he carries around with him sometimes. He told me that you gave it to him after you finished your training with him."

I pulled out a small practice bow from one of the closets and asked," Try this and tell me if it's too hard or too easy to draw back." She tested it before grinning and giving a thumbs up.

"I guess that means it's alright. Ok, first I'm going to teach you the correct for to draw the string back," I said," Watch me." I demonstrated pulling the string back without the arrow. When I gestured for her to copy me, I was stunned at how perfectly she executed the drawback.

"Wow, that's excellent. You're much better than your brother was when he started learning." She beamed at the complement, showing her perfect white teeth.

"Now we're going to work on actually shooting the arrow." Artemis proceeded to teach Ashley how to shoot the arrow and when it was time that she released, Artemis stepped back. She had already learned from experience, that when you are teaching a child of Poseidon archery, it's best to stand as far back as possible. It's not a matter of will it fly towards you, it's a matter of will you have enough time to dodge it before it pierces your jugular. You can imagine my surprise when the arrow didn't fly in my direction, but towards the target.

I watched it sail and it was almost as if it was in slow motion. The arrow flew straight on her first shot and landed right in the center of the bulls-eye. I gaped in awe at how good this little girl was. _Hmmm... It might have been luck. I have never known a single child of Poseidon that was able to even fire the arrow straight on their first shot._

"That was amazing! But can you do it again?" I challenged. She looked at me with determination in her eyes and nocked another arrow onto the string. I stepped back again just to be safe, but it turned out I didn't need it. The arrow flew true again and struck the center of the target yet again. This time my eyes almost bugged out of my head. This girl was so great at archery. The first two shots of her life and she had already hit two bulls-eyes.

I had her train more and more, again and again she hit the bulls-eye. Not a single one strayed from the center. By the time we were finished, I would end up with one hundred split arrows littered on the ground beneath the target.

Suddenly, while I was instructing her on how to shoot while moving, I heard a shout in the back of my brain. _Help, Artemis!_ I could tell that it was Percy and he was in distress.

"Ashley, I'm going to need step out for a moment. Can you just wait here for maybe ten minutes?" She relented and sat down on the floor against the wall of the training room, waiting patiently.

I quickly flashed to Perseus' location and paled at what I saw.

Percy POV:

I barely managed to unsheath my sword and bring it up to block, before the blade of the man's sword slammed into mine. I retaliated and stabbed at his stomach, catching him off guard. We fought at an even match, before I managed to find an opening in this defense. I quickly took advantage of it an slammed his blade out of his hands. I held Frostbite beneath his chin, drawing a thin line of blood.

"Who are you!" I demanded," Why have you come to kill me?!"

"You should know who I am," he said, pulling his hood of his head. I gasped in shock at who I saw under.

"Nico?" I asked in disbelief,"What are you doing?"

He just smirked and used the opportunity to catch me off guard. A skeletal hand rose out of the dirt and wrapped itself around my leg. I tried to yank it free, but more and more started to emerge from the ground, making it impossible to fight them off. Before long, I was trapped by ten different sets of hands, being held down to the ground on my back.

Nico slowly got up and grabbed his sword.

"Why are you doing this Nico? I thought we were friends?"

"We were, before Master came to me with an offer that I just couldn't refuse. Also, You were the one that got my sister killed. If it wasn't for you, Bianca would still be alive right next to me. My name is Nico di Angelo. You killed my sister. Prepare to die. (Reference to 'The Princess Bride')"

"Who is this master of yours?"

"I will now give you any information. It will not matter anyways, you will be dead before you can even process it."

I desperately tried to fight back and find some way to free myself, but to no avail. Suddenly, I had an idea. _Help, Artemis!_ I prayed to my goddess friend. I hope she heard me, otherwise, I'm sushi. Nico sneered at my feeble attempts to escape and raised his sword to deliver the final blow that would send me to his father's realm.

Just before his sword touched my exposed neck, a bright flash erupted behind me, blinding Nico and making him stagger back, losing his grip on his sword. Artemis blasted a bolt of silver energy at him, but he seemed to shimmer out of existence, letting the bolt pass right through him.

"You are far too late, Perseus. You will not be able to stop Master if you can't even defeat me. I will retreat for now, but this is definitely not the last time you will be seeing me." he laughed hysterically as he sunk into the ground along with his sword, before the ground covered up with no trace that there had been anything there in the first place.

I stumbled up and made my way to my sword, picking it up and putting back in its rightful spot.

"Perseus! How do you manage to find so much trouble? And wasn't that Nico? Why would Nico be attacking you all talking about a so called 'master'?" she demanded.

"I will tell you after we get back. Could we go back to your palace? I think we should go somewhere that is a little less prone to eaves droppers."

She narrowed her eyes, but nodded and grabbed my shoulder, flashing me to her palace. I had forgotten how terrible flashing was. After I recovered from the travel, she led me into some sort of training room where I saw Ashley sitting by the wall. The moment she saw me, her face lit up and she ran over to me with speeds I didn't know was even possible for an 8 year old. She hugged me with vigor before letting me go and looking up at me questioningly.

"Why were you gone for so long, Big Brother?" she asked.

"I was just going to visit my mother. I hadn't seen her for more than two years and it was about time that I go to her apartment."

She accepted the answer with a nod, before Artemis rounded on me and asked me the same question she had before we flashed.

"I was talking with my mom for a while before I had to leave and pick up Ashley. Before I came to your palace, I went to my cabin to put away my gear. Nico suddenly appeared on my porch and said something about his master. He started attacking me and I barely managed to defend myself. I was able to disarm him, but he held me down with his skeletons. He was about to kill me before you showed up and then from there you know what happened," I explained," I still don't know why Nico of all people would betray me and Olympus. He was such an innocent boy, but now he seems corrupted. I'm not sure who or what could have caused it."

"Typical male doing anything he can just to gain a little bit of power," she said, then noticing my slightly hurt look she said," I'm sorry. You're the only male that is different from the rest. I know that you wouldn't do that, Perseus."

I nodded gratefully at her correction and thought about who this master of Nico's could be. I still couldn't believe that he would do something like this. I mean, he was like the little brother that I never had. Why would he just suddenly turn on me like this?

"I think you're going to going to need somewhere safe to stay for the night. You're cabin is obviously not the most hidden place anymore," she said.

I thought about it, realizing that she made a good point. Where could I stay that nobody would dare attack. Oh, I knew just the place.

"Would it be possible if Ashley and I could stay here? I mean if you don't want us then I could always ask Poseidon, but I just feel a little more safe here."

I was nervous for her answer. I had just asked the man hating goddess if she would be ok with me sleeping in her palace. Probably not the best idea, but hey, when do I ever have good ideas. _Geez, Percy. That type of thinking will get you killed one of these days. It's already endangered you more than once._

"That would be fine with me. As long as you stay on the other side of the palace and don't step foot anywhere near my side of the palace. You can have one of my guest bedrooms down that hall," she said, pointing to a long hallway on the other side of the training room.

"Thank you, Artemis. Ashley, you can stay with Artemis of with me," I said.

"I want to stay with you Percy. When I'm with you, my nightmares go away and I'm able to sleep well," she decided.

I nodded and walked down the hall that Artemis had indicated, pushing into one the rooms that had the door unlocked. It was simple, with a king sized bed pushed into the corner and a closet on the other side. There was a bathroom that connected to the bedroom with a shower and a bathtub.

"I'm going to take a shower ok? You can go wait with, Artemis until I'm done."

She nodded and scampered off towards the other side of the palace in search of Artemis. I stripped and hopped into the shower before turning the water up to the highest heat. I was a son of Poseidon so the heat didn't bother me as much as it felt relaxing. When I was done, I wrapped one of the towels around my waste and realized that I hadn't brought an extra pair of clothes to change out of. I mind-messaged my father and asked him for some extra clothes for the night.

With a _poof_ a neat stack of sleeping pajamas appeared on my bed in a cloud of smoke. I silently thanked my dad before dropping the towel and pulling on the underwear and pants. Before I could put on the shirt, the door suddenly opened to reveal Artemis with a pile of clothes in her arms. She almost dropped them when she saw me standing there without a shirt. Her cheeks turned flushed and she looked like she was having a hard time breathing.

"I-I'll just l-leave the c-clothes right here," she stuttered, before rushing out of the room, slamming the door behind her. My cheeks were flaming and they felt almost hot to the touch. I knew it was completely red from embarrassment. _Well that was unexpected. Oh gods, she'll probably kill me._ I tried to force those thoughts out of my head and put my shirt on.

Ashley came barging through the door in an adorable pajama outfit, ready for bed.

"Artemis helped get me ready for bed. She left to give you some pajamas to change into, but when she came back, her face was as red as a tomato. Do you know that that was about?"

"N-no! I mean, no I don't. I wonder why her cheeks were so red?" I quickly covered up. She didn't notice and snuggled into the covers before pulling me onto the bed with her. I switched off the lights and cuddled up to my little sister for the second time.

That night, I fell asleep, still red and flushed from the incident.

(End of Chapter 10)

Draconic King: If you mean the relationship between Percy and Ashley then I agree with you. I'm trying to make them as close as possible and have a really strong brother sister bond.

Axccel: 1. I know right xD! Artemis is too prideful for her own good. Maybe Percy beating her into the ground was a good lesson for her!

2\. Thanks! Tell me if you want me to tone the speed down a little or maybe even pick up the pace. I'm glad you're enjoying the story and thanks for the review, favorite, and follow!

 **A.N: It's getting a little hard to manage posting a chapter a day so I might update a little less from now on. I'm going to try for a chapter a day, but there are no guarantees. Anyways, for those of you who wanted some more pertemis action, there's a little for you. I know it's going a long a little slowly, but I'm going to try to bring their relationship into it a little more.**

 **P.S: Sorry if there are some grammatical errors throughout the story. Some times I don't catch a lot of them as I am not the best at editing my writing.**


	11. Chapter 11

Artemis POV:

The next morning, I found myself tucked into the folds of my blanket. I looked at the alarm clock beside my bed and quickly bolted into the bathroom to get ready. It was already very late and I still wanted take Percy to Olympus after the attack. That stupid boy Nico would cause a huge disruption on the Council. _Wait, did I just refer to him as Percy? His name is **Perseus** not Percy. If I call him Percy then it will seem like I'm becoming soft of him, which I am most definitely not._

Speaking of _Perseus,_ my cheeks lit aflame as I remembered last night's event _._ I can't believe I walked in on him without a shirt on. _His body did look kind of good though. So muscu- WHOA! Bad thoughts! Get them out of your head,_ I mentally berated myself. I shook my head to clear those terrible thoughts and finished preparing for the day.

I walked out into the kitchen and was surprised to see Perseus already there with Ashley. They were laughing at something he had said while eating some sort of blue pancake thing. Perseus noticed me and got up to greet me. I didn't notice that his cheeks turned a little rosy

"Good morning, Lady Artemis. Would you like some pancakes for breakfast. I made them myself," He greeted gesturing to the blue slabs of batter. I frown, _Why did he call me Lady Artemis. He normally just calls me Artemis._ I pushed the thoughts away thinking nothing of it.

"Why are they blue? Last time I checked, pancakes are not supposed be blue," I asked incredulously.

"Well, my mom taught me how to make them and we always used to cook breakfast together all the time. It just brings back good memories," He explained, smiling a little self-consciously.

I just shook my head at his silly antics and sat down in the chair to his right. I put one of the blue things on my plate and took a hesitant bite. My eyes widened as the flavors exploded in my mouth and melted into my taste buds. This was the best pancake I had ever eaten. I scrambled to pile as many as I could fit onto my plate.

"I take it you like them then?" Perseus smirked.

"No they taste terrible. I'm just really hungry and I would eat anything at the moment even if it tastes terrible," I quickly replied to cover myself up. Perseus looked at me skeptically and then broke into a grin.

I finished my bite and said,"I think we are going to Olympus today. I am a little worried about that little attack from your friend. I'm not sure what this could signify and this might be a sign of a threat rising against us."

He slowly nodded, remembering the words that Nico had spoke before he had sunk into the earth. Worrisome indeed. When the three of us finished our breakfast, I grabbed both of their shoulders and flashed them into the throne room. I walked to my throne and pulled out my bow, shooting a silver arrow into the sky to call for a meeting. Within seconds, all of the Olympians had flashed into their thrones and were looking at me questioningly.

"Why have you called a meeting my daughter?" Zeus asked.

"Yesterday, Perseud was attacked by a mysterious man in a cloak. Perseus was almost overwhelmed by him, but I managed to get there in time to save him. I fired a bolt at him, but he seemed to become intangible and it passed right through him. Before he left, he said something about a master that was far more powerful than he was. The man was Nico."

The throne room went into an uproar. The gods were in a frenzy of arguing and shouting at me to explain further.

"My son would never betray Olympus!" shouted Hades.

"I'm sorry, Lord Hades, but I swear on the Styx that it was Nico that I saw," Perseus said sadly. Hades slumped into his throne and looked defeated. I knew that he was thinking how his favorite son had betrayed them for some unknown master.

"We must discuss this issue immediately. There might be something lurking beyond our sight that will come into the light at the most dire of times," I said.

"If there is some sort of new found threat, then we must be ready to defend against it, but after the last great war, we do not have enough demigods to fight back. How can we possibly hope to fight another war in the state that we are in?" asked Hera.

"We must have some people that are powerful enough to fend against this possible oncoming force, but not restricted by the ancient laws," Athena said. Everybody turned at looked at Perseus, who looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"Me? But I am not strong enough to defend Olympus. You should get somebody else to do it. I will just let you down," he said dejectedly.

"Perseus Jackson! Don't you dare say that about yourself. You are the twice savior of Olympus and the most worthy hero to ever live. You are strong and we all have confidence that you will not let us down," scolded Hestia. Everybody looked a little shocked that Hestia would speak out so much. She was normally such a peaceful goddess who never raised her voice to anything.

"As much as it pains me to admit it, Hestia is right. Perseus you are one of the most loyal and strong willed people I have ever met. You were the one that made my daughter as happy as she was before she died. I know that she would agree with me," Athena agreed. I saw Perseus' eyes tear up a little at the mention of his fallen girlfriend, but quickly dissipate. Apparently, he was still not over her death. I felt a small pang of something enter my chest, but I didn't know what it was.

"I agree," Zeus said," I think that Perseus will need to be the one to defend Olympus. He will need to be trained even harder though. Every god will help train him in their own domain as he has gained the blessing of all of us from the Guardian's Blessing." Zeus had seemed to warm up to Perseus in the passing years of his disappearance. He had grown an inkling of respect for the young demigod and he felt that he deserved at least a little bit of courtesy.

The rest of the council nodded their head in agreement, except for Dionysus and Ares as they still hated Perseus. Personally, I felt a little happy that I would get to spend more time with Perseus. He had become the closest thing to a friend that a male could be to me.

"It is settled. Training will begin tomorrow. You will meet with half of the Olympians a day in which we will train you specially to become the strongest demigod to ever live. Not that you aren't," Zeus said,"Meeting adjourned."

The gods and goddesses starting to flashing out one by one until only Perseus, Ashley and I were left standing in the throne room.

"Say, Artemis, would you like to spar a little? I have been meaning to teach Ashley how to use a sword for a while. I know she is still young, but with this coming threat, I think it is best that we are prepared," He said. Ashley perked up at this information and looked at him excitedly. She was eager to learn how to fight like her brother and to help defend the world.

"Sure," I said. I grabbed their shoulders once again and flashed them to the arena. Perseus set Ashley down on one of the stands until we were done with our spar. He brandished his sword and held it between his hands in front of his face. I drew my hunting knives and nodded at him, before we ran at each other, blades clashing. Sparks flew as we we sped up our attacks, becoming a blur that both of us could barely follow. We were just acting on instinct, raising our blades to block blows that we didn't even know were coming and sending an attack the other's way just as fast.

Suddenly, he jumped back and dropped his sword on the ground. Grinning, I understood what he wanted and dropped my knives at my feet. Again, we ran at each other, except this time with no weapons. We fought like we had been training for an eternity, which I kind of have. Perseus tackled me to the ground and we started grappling, trying to get on top of one another and gain the upper hand.

Finally, I managed to come out on top and wrapped him into a head lock.

"Yeild?"

He nodded and I relaxed my arm, grinning widely. It always felt good to beat him as I admit, he was quite a bit better than I was in close combat. I held out my hand and pulled him up. He took my hand, but I had misjudged his weight and he ended up pulling me onto his chest. We lay there stunned for a second, before jumping up and moving apart from one another, blushing madly.

The awkward silence was broken by Ashley who was clapping enthusiastically.

"I want to learn how do that!" She yelled. We chuckled as she came running towards us from the stands. Perseus drew a small miniature sword that he had hidden in his boot.

"I have been holding this just for you. I was hoping that I could teach you how to use it," he said to her raised eyebrow. She nodded at took an experimental swing with it. Apparently she was not used to swinging a sword and the momentum spun her around before she landed on her butt. We laughed at her embarrassed look as she got up.

"Ok, Ashley, Artemis and I will demonstrate moves on each other and you can try to copy them. We wills start easy and just to the basics, before we get onto the harder moves," He said,"Artemis, I'm going to do a simple swing at you. Ashley, I want to you watch and try to replicate it afterwards, got it?" We nodded and he took a swing at me, which I blocked with ease.

"Can you do that, Ashley?" Perseus asked in a slightly challenging tone. Ashley looked at him with determination in her eyes and held her sword up. She swung the blade at me as hard as she could and my blade clanged against her smaller one as I parried.

"Good, now don't use all of your strength because it will make you slower to recover and you will deplete your energy a lot faster," he instructed. She swung again at me, this time with less force, but better technique. He nodded in approval, before asking her to continue repeating the stroke to get the hang of it.

From there, he started teaching her and we took turns showing her new moves and having her master them.

(Line Break)

Two hours later, she was ready for her first spar. Perseus summoned a very weak undead warrior (remember he has the blessing of all the Olympians including Hades) for her to spar against. At first she looked scared, but soon enough, she looked like she could kill it with just the glare in her eyes.

The undead warrior took a swing at her head, but she ducked it and slashed at it's arm, chipping one of the bones. The warrior didn't notice the pain and continued to attack her. It swung it's sword in a downward motion, attempting to slice her in half. She blocked, but the blow was strong and it made her stumble back, off balance.

I noticed twitch a little, no doubt ready to rush forward and save his little sister. I laid my hand on his arm to hold him back. Ashley needed to win this fight on her own. If it truly turned out to be deadly, then we would intervene, but for now, she could still win.

Ashley rushed forward again and blocked another blow from the skeletal warrior, before sending it a slash of her own. This time, it took off it's whole left arm, rendering it useless. The warrior hissed in pain and tried to kick her in the face. She dodged yet again and brought her sword down on it's leg, severing another limb. Now the warrior had only one arm and one leg, with barely and fight left in it.

She made one final push towards the warrior and swung the sword with all her might, slicing right through it's head. The body clattered to the ground and crumbled into dust as Ashley panted for breath.

"Great Job! This was your first spar and you managed to beat the warrior pretty easily," Perseus congratulated. She beamed in pride stuck her sword into the ground beneath her foot to lean of it.

"I think that's enough for one day, don't you think?" I asked They both nodded and gathered up their belongings before I flashed them back to the palace.

"I think I'm going to visit my mother again. Would either of you like to come with me?" Perseus asked.

"Sure, I want to meet the mother of the only acceptable man on the planet," I said. He blushed lightly before turning to Ashley.

"Yeah! I want to see your mommy!" She almost shouted. He smiled and grabbed our shoulder, mist traveling us outside his mother's apartment. He knocked on the door and a minute later, there stood Sally.

"Percy! How nice of you to visit me? And who are these two?" She asked.

"Hey mom, I'll tell you inside over a plate of blue cookies," He said. His eyes lit up at the idea of blue cookies and I smirked at his immaturity. She led us into the room, a quaint little home, with blue walls and photos of Perseus and his mother all over the place. We sat down on the living room couch and Perseus got his plate of blue cookies, before stuffing one into his mouth.

"Paul is at work right now so you won't be able to see him today. So who are these two?" His mother asked again.

"Mother, this is Artemis, and Ashley. Guys this is my mother," He introduced. Sally's eyes widened comically when she heard my name.

"Artemis? As in, Lady Artemis the greek goddess?" She asked. I nodded and she immediately jumped up from the couch to bow to me, but I held up my hand to stop her.

"Perseus is my friend, the mother of my friend does not need to bow to me," I said. She looked surprised, but nodded. She turned to look at Ashley still confused as to who she was.

"Mom, this is my younger sister Ashley. I saved her from her abusive uncle and have been taking care of her ever since," Perseus explained.

"Hello Ashley, it's very nice to meet such a fine young lady like yourself. I hope in the future we can spend some time together," Sally said, leaning down to look at her. Ashley warmed up to her in an instant and was soon in the arms of her brother's mom.

"Now tell me how you became friends with Percy, Lady Artemis?"

So we told her of everything that had happened since Perseus had disappeared leading up to when Nico had attacked Perseus. His mother looked sad when we explained to her that Nico had betrayed us. Nico had always been nice to her and had been a great friend to her son and she was upset that he had taken to betraying Olympus.

When we were done, the room was cast into a grim silence. Sally seemed to notice this and attempt to lighten the mood by telling embarrassing stories about Perseus. For the remainder of the time, us three females were laughing so hard that our bellies hurt, while Perseus just sat there with a red face, clearly not enjoying it one bit.

Soon, it came time for us leave and everybody was disappointed.

"Good-bye, Percy, Ashley, Lady Artemis, feel free to visit me and Paul any time you want. I had a great time today," She said.

"Yes, thank you Sally. I haven't laughed that hard since the war and I think I needed it," I replied. Sally averted her eyes as I flashed all three of us to my palace.

"I think you're going to need to find somewhere else to sleep after tonight. It might warrant some suspicion from the other gods, especially Apollo," I said to him. He looked disappointed for a moment, but then nodded in understanding.

"I will move back to my cabin after tonight, but can you put some barriers around the area. I still don't feel completely safe sleeping in a house where an enemy knows exactly where I am," He agreed.

"Yes that can be arranged."

I bade Ashley and Perseus goodnight before plodding into my room and getting ready for bed. After taking a shower and brushing my teeth, I dropped onto the bed and fell asleep promptly. As my eyes closed, I fell into an inky blackness, before a man appeared in front of me. Us gods almost never have dreams unless somebody wants to contact us, so this is probably important.

"Artemis, goddess of the moon, hunt, childbirth, and nature. Hater of all men and eternal maiden," The figure said. His face was clouded in shadows and I couldn't see a single feature of his body. It was almost as if he was behind a veil, just a silhouette behind a curtain.

"Who are you and why do you contact me in my sleep?!" I growled. He just chuckled, a grating sound that made her want to turn away and cover her ears.

"Impudent little goddess. You Olympians need to be taught some respect. I have come as a warning to all of you that for the next 2 months, you will have your peace, but after that, no promises," He said darkly.

"You think you can just invade my dreams and tell me that you will attack Olympus without consequence?!"

"Ha! You gods are weak against a true power. You stand no chance against me. You're only hope is that boy Perseus Jackson, but he will not be of use much longer once my assassin kills him. I think you have already been acquainted with him," He laughed manically. He started to fade and his laughter only grew louder. I tried to make a swipe at him with my knife, before realizing that I didn't have anything on me. I watched as his form slowly blended with the blackness around and then I fell into a truly dreamless sleep.

(End of Chapter 11)

BlueBlade906: Thank you so much! You have no idea how much it means to me for somebody to give me such a positive review. I will humbly disagree with your statements thought because I feel that my writing is nothing compared to many of the better stories out there. Again though, I appreciate your kindness towards me and my writing! 3

ghostchilli666: Thank you, but I don't know if I'm going to be making the chapters any longer. I think 3,000 is the max for me because it means I can update more often.

the guy that loves all gunpla: Thank you for the positive feedback. You'll find out soon enough who Nico is serving! As for riptide, I think I'm just going to make it like a souvenir from the war that he doesn't use much anymore. If you want, I can make it so that he wields both at the same time though.

SonOfHades1: I appreciate the compliment and believe it or not, you just gave me a couple new ideas that I might add to the story!

 **A.N: Hey guys! Here's another chapter of The Sea and The Moon, I hope you liked it! We just hit 5,000 views and I just want to thank everybody for the support and especially the reviews. If it weren't for you guys, I would have abandoned this story a long time ago. Next milestone is 10,000!**


	12. Chapter 12

Artemis POV:

The moment I awoke the next morning, I was us and running towards Perseus' room. I needed to get him to Olympus to discuss my dream last night. That mystery man was definitely somebody who was extremely powerful and would most likely have the power to destroy Olympus.

I sharply rapped my knuckles on the door. After a minute he didn't respond so I slammed my fist against the door as hard as I could. I heard a startled yell coming from inside and the door suddenly swung open. Perseus stood there in his pajamas glaring at me with a pissed look.

"What Artemis? I was trying to sleep when _someone_ came banging on the door," He growled accusingly at me.

"Now is not the time Perseus. Change and get Ashley as quickly as you can. We are going to Olympus."

He sensed the urgency in my voice and his eyes widened. He nodded and rushed off to get changed. I sat out in the common room and waited for him to get ready. A couple minutes later, he came in with messy hair and a tired looking Ashley in his arms. I rushed over to him and flashed us to the throne room. I called another meeting and the gods all flashed into their thrones within seconds.

"Is there a reason why you have called yet another meeting with such urgency, Daughter?" Zeus asked a little irritated that he had to get up so early. Most of the gods were extremely lazy and didn't get out of bed till very late in the day. They were gods after all and even though they had duties, there was nobody telling them what to do.

"Yes father. Last night I was called into a dream by a man covered in shadows," I said, catching everybody's attention," I do not know exactly who he was, but I know that he was very powerful. He said that he was there to warn me. We have 2 months of peace and then he will attack Olympus. I have no doubt that if we do not find a way to defend ourselves, we will be decimated."

The gods paled at this information and they sat up straighter in their thrones at the urgent matter. Everybody started to look a little nervous, even Zeus who never got nervous about a potential enemy. He was too cocky and arrogant to believe that anybody would be able to undermine his position of king and if something was getting even him nervous, then it was a terrible revelation indeed.

Athena as always, looked like she was thinking about something.

"Sister, can you describe what he looked like to us? I might have an idea of who this could be, but I pray that it is not, for if it is, then it would almost certainly mean the end of us all."

"I could not see his figure very well, but it was like he did not have a physical body. His form was like a manifestation of evil and seemed to be made of shadow. His eyes were the most disturbing part. They looked like a bottomless pit that pulled all light from around it and suck it in."

With each word, Athena's face turned whiter and whiter.

"There is no way, he could be alive is there? He was thought to be faded many millennia ago," She muttered under her breath. At this, the gods seemed to become even more apprehensive, shifting in their seats.

"Would you care to explain who this 'He' is Athena?" Zeus asked uneasily.

"Over an eon ago, a being more powerful than anything was born from the maker. His name was Apollyon. Nobody knows how he came into existence. He is known as the Angel of the Abyss and was born to destroy and kill. He so powerful that the Primordial Council voted him banished to make sure that he would never endanger the universe in his lifetime. It took the might of every single Primordial, Titan, and God to bring him into submission and trap him in the Void for eternity. He managed to not only kill, but fade ninety percent of the immortals that fought against him. Most have forgotten him in history, but I can assure you that he is real. If he has not faded and has somehow managed to escape his prison, then there is almost no way that we can survive an attack from him," She explained.

The gods were now sweating in their thrones, almost too scared to move. Silence was cast over the throne room as the gods and Perseus digested this information. Ashley was still in his arms, but she did not know what was going on. She was looking around in confusion and marveling at a painting on the ceiling of the throne room. It was true, ignorance is bliss.

"And is there any way that we can stop him from destroying us?" I asked.

"There is only one known way to send him back to his prison. That is to acquire the key to his cell. You see, after he was locked away, the Primordials created a key that will forever close his prison and never let him out. They feared that he would somehow find a way to escape and he would come back for vengeance. They buried this key somewhere that he would never find it. The only people who knew where it was hidden have long faded alongside the history of this key," Athena elucidated.

"If they had this key, then why didn't they use it the moment they created it to ensure that he would stay trapped," Asked Poseidon. I could everybody in the room was thinking the same thing.

"The key took a very very long time to create, as it was so powerful. The creators faded before it could be fully created. This key could come in the form of anything, even a person. It is our only hope of defeating Apollyon. The thing is, the moment he got out the Void, he would have started locating the key as it is the only way for him to be brought down and he has had a head start."

We sat in silence yet again.

"We must find this key at all costs as it is the only way we can survive this," Zeus said. Even he knew the gravity of the situation and there was none of the usual arrogance and over-confidence in his voice," In the mean time, we will commence the training of Perseus immediately, starting today. He will meet with half the council per day and the other half the next. We need to make sure he is prepared. I think he is the only person that has any chance of finding the key."

The gods nodded in agreement. As much as I hated Perseus being put into danger, I knew that it was mandatory and that he was the only person for the job. He had seemed to accept his responsibility and had a fiery look in his eyes.

"Meeting dismissed. Gods that will be training Perseus today, you will have a designated time to train him every other day for and hour and a half each. I know you probably do not wish for this nephew, but you must understand that this is necessary," Zeus said.

"I know, Lord Zeus. I will not give up even against the most powerful enemy and I'm prepared to do anything to stand by that."

Zeus gave one final nod in his direction and flashed out, along with half the gods. That left Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Me, Hades, and Hestia (Hestia and Hades are Olympians) in the throne room.

"Hello, Perseus, we will be training you today. We will each teach you how to use out respective blessings and how to master their powers," Hestia said approaching him. Hestia was by far the most kind and understanding Olympian. She did flaunt her power or act stuck up and she was always willing to help her family when in need.

Perseus bowed to the group of gods and asked,"So let's get started shall we?"

(Line Break)

For the next week, every single on of the Olympians trained Perseus with vigor.

Poseidon would train him in his ocean powers to help him master his control over the sea. The time that they spent together was relaxed and made up for much of the father and son time that had been lost by the war.

Demeter trained him in his control over the underbrush. By the end of the second day, he was able to summon weeds from the ground and had very limited control over them.

Athena helped him in his battle strategy. She claimed that he was all brawn and no brain, but that it was about to train. She taught him strategical ways to get out of almost every situation and how to make battle plans in a war.

Apollo showed Perseus how to use the power of the sun against his enemies and taught him how to block or raise the amount of sunlight in a given area. He also helped Perseus a little with his archery even though there was little to be improved upon. I had done an amazing job teaching him if I do say so myself.

Hades instructed him on his control over the dead. He had already learned minor control over skeletal warriors, but Hades increased his power and taught him how to use it as a weapon, just like that traitor Nico. He would have a nasty surprise when his own minions turn against him.

Hestia helped Perseus in any way that she could, even with the training of another god. That was just the way she was, always nice and willing to help. She also helped him with his powers over healing and showed him how to summon food out of thin air. Soon after the first week, he was summoning blue cookies and munching on them before summoning another. In fact, he summoned so many blue cookies, that Hestia had to limit his blessing to only allow him a certain amount a day, before he would be unable to create anymore.

Hephaestus made his fire powers more deadly. Perseus could now summon fire almost as well as Leo could and had enough control that he could reliably use it in battle without burning his undies off his body.

Hera educated him on how to always tell whether or not somebody had true intentions. It might seem stupid, but this was an extremely useful ability to have. It would be impossible to lie to him or betray him in anyway. They seemed to grow a little closer, almost like a mother-son relationship and I often saw them joking around with each other while training.

Aphrodite attempted to teach Perseus how to flirt, but when that didn't work out, she resorted to flirting with him herself. Whenever they trained together an ugly feeling welled up in my stomach watching her relentlessly flirt with my only male friend.

Zeus did not enjoy teaching him, but knew that it was very important that he did. He taught Perseus how to control lightning and become immune to it. By the end of the week, Perseus could shoot lightning out of his hand, but was a very poor aim. The best he could manage was to fire the bolt within a forty foot area of the target he was aiming at.

Ares and Dionysus were by far the most reluctant to train him and tried to make it as miserable as possible. Ares was looking forward to beating Perseus into a pulp, but was shocked that he was not able to defeat him as easily as he had though. More often then no, Perseus would defeat Ares in battle if they were not using powers. Dionysus was still as lazy as ever and decided that he did not even want to teach Perseus, which was fine by him. Perseus hated Dionysus strongly and he did not mind that he would not be training with him. I mean, who needs to learn how to grow grapes and throw amazing parties.

Then it came to Perseus and I. I was mostly just a sparring partner for him, as I have taught him in most of what I know. Our friendship has become stronger and more solid now. I think both of would be comfortable calling each other friends and kidding around together. I still have this weird feeling in my chest whenever I'm with him though. It's like I'm a lot warmer around him. Every time he would accidentally brush his hand against mine, I felt a shock travel through my body and I shuddered. Every time he glanced in my direction, my heart fluttered and my heartbeat increased by a tenfold. Every time he talked to me, the only thing I was focused on was his voice. I don't know what it is, but I like this feeling.

(Line Break)

Percy POV:

Two weeks had passed since the Olympians had started training me. Zeus had called another council meeting and we were all in the throne room waiting to hear what he had to say.

"Over the past two weeks, Perseus has been training under our wing, mastering the power of the Guardian's Blessing I think that we can all agree that he is ready," He said. The council nodded in agreement,"It is time now Perseus. You will need to find the missing key to Apollyon's cell and lock him away once and for all. Because this is a dangerous and tough mission, you will be assigned an Olympian of choice to accompany you along the way. They will oversee your quest and help guide you when you have lost track of your path. Who will you choose?"

I looked at all the Olympians and assessed each of them. There was not chance I would want to spend even a second with Dionysus, Ares, Aphrodite, or Zeus so that ruled those gods out. Of the remaining members of the Council, I saw only a few candidates. Poseidon, Artemis, Hestia, and Hera. I was still contemplating which one to pick, but with one look into her eyes, I knew my choice was made.

"I will choose Artemis to be my companion on this quest."

The other gods looked shocked by my decision, but Artemis looked at me with a smile on her face and something else that I couldn't comprehend in her eyes. She nodded at me in acceptance that she would be the one to accompany me on this.

"Very well, you have made you decision. You will depart first thing tomorrow morning. You need to move out as fast as possible. Apollyon will be looking for it just as hard as we are, and we must race for it," Zeus said with finality.

"But what about Ashley, what will she do while we are gone?" I asked.

"Ashley cans stay with you and go on this quest with you. The moment you are in any sort of danger, you can transport her to one of us and we will keep her safe," Zeus said. I nodded.

"Meeting dismissed. Good luck Perseus, make us proud," Zeus said and then flashed out along with most of the other gods. Hestia, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, and Artemis stayed behind. Hestia and Hera approached me.

"Percy, we would like to wish you luck before you leave on your quest. We know that this is a big job, but I know that you understand how important this is," Hestia said.

"I do, My Lady. I would do anything to help my family and I would be prepared to die for the cause if that is what is needed," I said. The gods looked a little saddened by this statement, but all knew that what I said was true. There was a very high chance that I would not come back alive from this.

"Thank you Percy, for everything you have done for us. Know that we wish you luck and if you ever need anything at all, you just need to pray to either of us and we will come," Said Hera. I embraced both of them gratefully before they both flashed out to return to their duties. I turned to my father and hugged him. I pulled back and looked into his eyes.

"Father, I know you're worried, but I'll be fine. Plus I have Artemis to keep me out of trouble," I said smirking at Artemis.

"I'm sure you will Percy. I know that you will find that key and save Olympus for the third time. And in case there is some trouble, would you please look out for him Artemis?" He asked her. She nodded and we watched as Poseidon gave last sad look at us and flashed away.

Finally, I looked to Athena. She had always been the closest god to me other than my father, after the war. She was the one that had helped me through my depression and had shown me the light in the world and in myself.

"Thank you Athena, for everything. Just know that if I don't come back, then I will always love you like an older sister."

She had tears in her eyes as she answered,"Don't say things like that Percy. I know you will come back and when you do, we will hold the biggest celebration for the biggest hero of them all. I love you too little brother."

We hugged for the last time in what would be a while. Maybe never again. She kissed my forehead with watery eyes, and flashed away, leaving me alone with Ashley and Artemis.

Artemis turned to me and we had an understanding between us. She grabbed my hand, as I held onto Ashley, and flashed us to the beginning of a new adventure.

(End of Chapter 12)

the guy that loves all gunpla: I don't mind you giving more ideas. In fact, it would be nice if you did and gave me some more to write about!

Wulfkin17: Thank you for the criticism, but I'm not sure where you are talking about with the internal monologues. Anyhow, I hope you're enjoying the story so far, I'm just writing to please! Oh, and you have no idea how juicy this story gonna get ;)

ghostchilli666: I'll try to make the chapters about this length from now on, but no promises that I'll be able to get out a chapter every day. Thank you for the support. I know I say thank you a lot, but I don't know what else to say xD.

SonOfHades: Yeah! It would be great if you could give me some more ideas or even some ways that I could improve. I don't feel that my writing is that great, so anyways I make it better would be greatly appreciated! And nope! Not Erebus. I'm trying to make my story as original as possible!

 **A.N: Here's another chapter! This was by far my favorite one to write and creating the backstory of the main antagonist. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!**


	13. Chapter 13

Percy POV:

The next morning, Artemis and I stood side by side with Ashley in my arms. It was time. We nodded at each other and took our first step forwards, then our next, and our next, until we were on our way. I didn't exactly know where we were walking to, but Artemis seemed to have a general sense of direction so I just followed her. After ten minutes, she increased the pace and soon we were sprinting, the trees a blur around us.

I had noticed that I tired much less after getting the Guardian's Blessing and I could full out sprint for over and hour without so much as break a sweat. At one point, I almost dropped Ashley, but managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Artemis was still pushing the pace and I was forced to speed up or else I would be left in the dust. I decided to try something.

Using my powers over air, I propelled myself and Ashley forward and outstretched my fist like Superman. I felt us traveling faster and faster. We were like a bullet, quickly catching up to Artemis and I glided next to her as she ran.

"Seriously Perseus? That's cheating," She said with a raised eyebrow. I smirked and sensed that she could go even faster, so I shot ahead and waited for her to catch up. It wasn't long before a caught up to, not even looking like she was trying.

"Geez, how fast can you gods run?"

"As fast as we need to. Now I would suggest we stop and try to figure out where we are."

I nodded and we stopped in a clearing. I sat down with Ashley in my arms. Artemis sat on another log across me.

"That was fun! We should do that again Percy!" Ashley yelled excitedly. I chuckled and ruffled her hair before turning to Artemis with a serious expression on my face.

"Do you have any idea where we should start?" She asked.

I thought about it before answering. Man, I would really hate saying this, but I think it's our only chance.

"I think the best place to start would be taking a visit to the one of only other immortals alive while Apollyon was still free."

Artemis looked confused for a second, but then she seemed to realize who I was talking about and her face paled immensely.

"You can't mean..."

I nodded,"We need to find a way to contact the titan council. It is our only chance of finding this key. I mean we have no information on it's whereabouts or even what it looks like. The titans were the only beings alive other then the gods and Primordials during that time. Obviously, I don't think it's a smart idea to find the Primordials and none of the current Olympians were alive back then. We can only hope that at least one of the titans had witnessed the making of the key."

She looked reluctant, but agreed at the reason behind my words.

"There is still the problem of how we contact the titans. Pretty much all of them hate us and I don't think they would be willing to meet with us peacefully."

"We don't need a reason other than the fact that the world may be close to the end of it's life. Without Earth, there's no titans. They will understand, trust me, they will. We just need to go to Mount Othrys, where the council is located."

She nodded at stood up,"Well, I guess we should get moving then, we shouldn't waste anymore time."

"But, I'm hungry," Ashley butt in.

I laughed a little,"Here you go." I summoned her a couple blue cookies before handing her to Artemis. Our hands briefly met and I felt a shock run through my body. _What was that. I've been feeling like this a lot whenever I touch her._ _Maybe I'm falling i-. WAIT! SHE'S A MAIDEN GODDESS, WHY AM I THINKING THESE THINGS?!_ I must have had a weird expression on my face because Artemis said," Uhhhh... Percy? Are you ok? You were just staring out into space." The moment she said this, she clamped her hand over her mouth and her face had a mortified expression.

"Did you just call me Percy?" I teased.

"No! You just have bad hearing. I said Perseus you were probably just too deaf to hear it," she quickly said. Even she knew that was a terrible excuse, but she seemed determined to find a way out of the situation. I just nodded with a smirk on her face as she blushed, realizing that I hadn't in the least fallen for her story. She sniffed with fake annoyance,"Let's just get out of here already. We're losing precious daylight while you're here too deaf to hear anything I am saying."

"Whatever you say, Arty," I said.

"What did you just call me?!"

"Oh are you deaf now? I just called you Artemis," I said as nonchalantly as possible, but my eyes betrayed my humor. She growled and looked like she wanted to kill me, so I just zoomed off through the air, leaving Ashley with a very angry goddess of the moon. I chuckled as I saw her burst into motion and sprint towards me at full speed, her free hand held a deadly looking knife. I flew faster to make sure she stayed behind me. Wouldn't want to be missing any limbs for a possible fight. _Well, I guess that's one way to get Arty moving_.

I knew the general direction of Mount Othrys so I planned to just fly there until I reached it. After an hour of non-stop travel, we finally reached the base of the massive mountain. When I looked back, I paled as I noticed Artemis was still running towards my with her in her hand.

"Now, now, Artemis, there's no need to get violent," I said nervously. She just continued charging towards me with Ashley in her arms still nibbling blue cookies looking completely oblivious to everything happening around her. As she got close, I controlled the vines around to stop her from moving and squeezing her wrist. She fought, but I just squeezed harder until she was forced to drop the knife.

I breathed a sigh of relief and let the vines recede. Just when I though I was safe, I felt a force smash into my stomach and send me flying me back ten feet. Artemis stood over me, a triumphant look on her face as she looked down at me. I groaned and got up.

"Now that that's over with, let's start actually go and talk to some titans."

We made our way up the side of the mountain. When we reached the top, we were surprised to see a palace in the center. We hesitantly walked up to the doors and opened them. Inside was a vast throne room where 12 massive thrones sat in a "U" shape around the room. The second we stepped into the palace, a flame in the center of the room shot up and there were 12 bright flashes. Where the empty thrones used to sit, there were now figures occupying each and every one. I knew the names of all of them from greek studies at Goode Highschool. _At least there's one thing I learned before blowing the entire thing up._ There sat the twelve original titans: Mnemosyne, Tethys, Theia, Phoebe, Rhea, Themis, Oceanus, Hyperion, Coeus, Cronus (for this story Cronus is the not evil version of Kronos) , and Iapetus (Not Bob in this story).

"Who dares enter the palace of the titans?!" Asked Hyperion.

"Lord Hyperion, we have come in peace. We are only here to ask for help in something that you will most definitely want to help with," I said as I bowed.

"An Olympian goddess and the hero Perseus Jackson. What are you doing here?! Do you want to die right here?! You're asking for it showing up here!" Hyperion shouted in fury. Apparently, he hadn't gotten over the fact that I had defeated him so easily. (I know Percy trapped Hyperion in a tree, but just assume that he just severely injured him)

"I am sorry about that (not), but I think you're going to want to listen to what we have to say." I said.

"Why should we listen to you little brat! You have been an enemy of the titans for far too long and we will not help you," He said.

"You should listen to us because if you don't then that will be the end of Earth, the titans, gods, and mortals," Artemis said. At this, the rest of the council looked a little bit more interested.

"What do you mean, puny goddess," Oceanus growled. I could tell Artemis was bristling with rage at being called puny, but managed to calm herself.

"I assume all of you have heard have the tale of Apollyon," I asked and all of them nodded a little impatiently.

"And what does this have to do with this "help" you need," Blurted Theia.

"It has to do with it, because that tale is real. Apollyon has escaped the void and has given us 2 months of peace before he attacks," Artemis said.

"Ha! You expect us to believe that this is true? You think we are so foolish to enough to follow the word of a mere demigod and goddess," Hyperion barked. All but one of the titans started laughing hysterically. Rhea sat in her throne, her face deathly white and her hands clenched the arm rest so hard I thought they would crack.

"Silence!" She shouted and everybody immediately stopped laughing,"Can you swear on the Styx that this is true. This is a very serious claim that you are making and it could be the end of us all."

"I swear on the Styx that everything that we have told you is true," Artemis said. When she wasn't struck down, Rhea face turned even paler if that was possible.

"If that is the case, then we will be willing to help you with anything that you need," She said.

"WHAT! Why are we helping these fools. They have done nothing but hinder the growth of the titan empire!" shouted Iapetus

"Because if we do not, then there will be no titan empire to grow. After Apollyon was trapped, the remaining Primordials, titans, and gods decided that it was best not to ever speak about him again, unless he has escaped. We swore this on our honor and immortality. What is it that you need young demigod?" Rhea said.

"After Apollyon was locked away, a key was created that would seal his tome forever, but it was never finished before the Primordials had faded. Now it is unknown where this key is, but we were hoping that one of you were alive during the creation of the key and that one of you know any idea of where the key was hidden," I explained.

The rest of the titans had grown silent, listening to what was being said with fear.

"I was the first titan and I was alive during the creation of this key, but even I do not know the exact location of where it was hidden. That information was classified for only the creators, who according to you have faded," Rhea said.

"Does that mean there is no way to find this key?" I asked deflated.

"No, I do know one of the possible locations that it could have lay. The Primordials always had one place that they would meet when there was an emergency and they couldn't meet in the throne room. I think that this is the most likely place it was hidden. The only problem is, it is the most dangerous place for any mortal or even immortal to venture. Tartarus."

The room seemed to grow colder and the lights dimmed at that name.

"You are saying that to find this key, we must purposely travel to The Pit?" Artemis asked. Rhea nodded gravely.

Ashley as still looking lost and marveling at the throne room around her. I wished that I could have been her at this moment. I remembered the what Zeus had said and I decided that it would probably be best to send her back to Olympus. Tartarus was not a place that anybody, let alone an 8 year old, travel to.

"Be warned though. This key was not finished when the creators faded, so that means you are going to have to find some way to complete it and use it before Apollyon gets to it. He is not stupid, he will be there in The Pit while you are and he can feel you. Wherever you are, he knows and at any time, he would be able to kill you if he wanted to. In fact, I think the only thing keeping him from doing so is that he told you he would give you two months of peace. That means within these two months, he can't attack you directly," Rhea said.

We nodded at this worrying news.

"As much as I don't like you, I think that it is necessary to give you some gifts before you leave on your journey. It would not be wise for use to let our arrogance get the most of us and send you off on a death mission without any help," said Hyperion shocking us all.

"We will grant you partial immortality and immunity to the airs of the Pit," Hyperion said. The rest of the titans reluctantly nodded and their hands shot forward. A bright glow enveloped me before dying down.

"Thank you, Lord Hyperion. These gifts will definitely be most useful down there," I thanked. He nodded towards us.

"I would also like to give you something," Rhea spoke. She got down from her throne, shrinking to human size, and walked towards us, with something behind her back. What she brought out surprised me.

"This is the last flower from the last living black rose growing in the gardens of Mount Othrys. If you crush the bulb into a powder and then mix it with water, then it has the power to revive somebody who has passed. It is extremely rare and valuable so please do not waste it," Rhea said, pulling out a beautiful black flower.

"If it is so valuable, then why are you giving it to us?" I asked.

"Because I have watched you throughout your quests, I know you are worthy. I know that you will do everything and anything you can to accomplish your final goal and save Earth," Rhea said,"You should be off, you will not have much time to before Apollyon reaches the key. Good Luck."

"How do we get into Tartarus?"

"I can personally send you there if you are ready."

"Wait, we must send this little one back to Olympus," Artemis said. I took Ashley from her arms and whispered in her ear.

"Hey little sis, Artemis and I are going on a very dangerous quest. I'm going to send you to Olympus so that you will be safe ok?"

"But I want to go with you," She whined

"Not this time little girl, maybe another time. After we get back, you can have as many blue cookies as you want ok?"

At this she immediately agreed. I gave her one last kiss on the forehead, before signaling to Artemis that it was time to send her away. Artemis kissed her cheek and flashed her back to my Father's palace.

"We're ready Lady Rhea," I said.

"Ok, I sincerely hope that you are able to find this key. I wish you the best of luck," She said. The rest of the council looked at me with gratitude and nodded along with her statement.

Rhea raised her hand and chanted in some language, before a hole in the ground started form until it was big enough to jump into. I could feel the power coming from inside that deep bottomless pit. It was almost as if this hole was the embodiment of evil and it was daring me to jump in, daring me to end my life the second I did. Nodding one final time to the titans, I turned to Artemis and subconsciously grabbed onto her hand, intertwining our finger together.

I glanced to my side and our eyes connected for a second, a deep understanding and something unknown running between us. And then we did exactly what the Pit was daring us to do. We jumped. Into certain death? Probably. Into a hopeless battle to save the world and possible the entire universe? Most definitely. But I was determined to try. With Artemis right by my side.

(End of Chapter 13)

ghostchilli666: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it because it by far my favorite chapter to write!

the guy that loves all gunpla: I don't offense to that. You actually caught a pretty big mistake that I made. I also really like the idea you have with riptide, so I might actually use that my story. Thanks for the ideas!

 **A.N: So there you go! Arty and Percy starting their adventure in Tartarus. I hope you guys liked this chapter and I'm glad you liked the last one as well. I'm really enjoying reading all the reviews that you guys give this story and I don't think there has been a single negative one yet. Thank you guys so much for the positive feedback!**

* * *

Also, shoutout to TidalMoon2003. He's been a huge help to me in improving my story. He has a great Pertemis Fanfiction 'Percy Jackson and the Hunters' Guardian Angel' go check it out!


	14. Chapter 14

Artemis POV:

As we jumped into The Pit, my heart was racing. I could feel sweat trickling down my eyebrows and my breathing was harsh and rapid. I had never died in all my life as a god, so I had never been in Tartarus before. I didn't know what to expect. I felt a squeeze around my right hand and looked over. Perseus was looking at me with confidence and it made me feel a little better.

We fell and fell, until darkness enveloped us and we were on our way to the home of the monsters. I squeezed Perseus' hand back and we looked at each other, smiling slightly.

 _Maybe this won't be so bad after all. I have somebody by my side to go through everything that I am._

(Line Break)

We had been falling for an unclear amount of time. It felt like a week, but who knows, time flows differently in Tartarus. I'm not even sure it this classifies as Tartarus yet though. Finally, I could see a light bellow us, rapidly growing, until I could see the opening into the realm of monsters.

"Perseus! Look! There's the opening. We need to find some way to slow our fall before we smash into the ground," I shouted.

"I know! I'll just use my powers over wind to slow us. I'm not sure if they work, but we'll just have to try," He shouted back. I nodded and prepared to smash into the ground if this didn't work.

As we neared the ground, I was starting to get a little bit worried. He still hadn't slowed us at all, and we seemed to be moving even faster now. He needed to do something fast.

"Perseus! What are you doing?! We're about to hit the ground. There's no time to fool around!" I yelled at him.

"I'm not sure why it's so hard to control the air around here. It's like it's hundreds of times thicker than the air on Earth it's almost impossible to manipulate! You're going to need to prepare for an impact unless you have an idea!" He shouted.

Great. That's just great. I turned my body so that it was in front of Perseus' as he wasn't a god and would most likely take more damage from the fall than I would. I felt the air whistling past my ears and I shut my eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

Seconds before we hit, I felt my body come to a complete stop and we hovered in the air, just inches above the ground. My eyes were still closed and I didn't know what was going on. _Why haven't we hit yet?_

I slowly opened my eyes and looked down. I saw that we had stopped and looked over to Perseus questioningly only to realize that he had blacked out. He must have exerted too much energy getting us to stop. We dropped to the floor and Perseus rolled off me and falling limp onto the ground.

Tartarus was even worse than I had expected. All around us, there was a red haze, almost like fog, that covered the surround area. I could barely see twenty feet ahead of us. The whole place felt alive with corrupted power and it made my skin crawl realizing that Apollyon was probably somewhere in this pit with us. Just thinking about him from my dream sent shivers down my back.

Sighing, I picked up Perseus and started walking in a random direction. We were going to need to find a way to get some food. I don't think there are any restaurants in Tartarus.

As I continued walking, my mind wandered to Perseus. Why was he so different from all other men. It would just be easier for him to become somebody vile that I could hate, but no. He's the most kind and selfless man I have ever met and he deserves my respect. The only problem is that it goes against my customary way of thinking.

Suddenly, Perseus shifted on my shoulders and groaned. I stopped and set him on the ground and waited for him to wake up. After a couple minutes, his eyes opened and he blinked a couple times. He seemed to realize where he was and bolted up, looking around and madly, as if trying to find something.

His eyes set on me, before his shoulders seemed to relax and he let out a sigh of relief.

"Hello," he said. I mentally face palmed.

"You wake up in Tartarus after blacking out and all you can say is 'hello'?," I asked incredulously.

He scratched the back of his head," Uh, Yeah?" The moment he said this, it felt like all the tension in the air had disappeared and suddenly, we started to chuckle. It was not long before we were on the ground laughing so hard that our stomachs hurt. I'm not sure what was wrong with us, but people say Tartarus does things to people. It actually felt good to laugh that much though. I hadn't had somebody to laugh with since the moment my hunters died.

When we had gathered ourselves together, I said," I think we should start moving again. We don't have a minute to waste and even it we did, I don't want to spend a second longer than we have to in this place. It gives me an uneasy feeling."

Perseus nodded in agreement and stood up, holding out his hand to haul me up with him. Once we were both ready, I motioned in front of us signalling that he should lead the way.

"No, we're going to walk side by side. There would be no way of knowing if you had been swiped away behind my back. If we walk together, then it will be obvious is one of use suddenly disappears," He said, shaking his head.

I guess that made sense. I walked up to his side and he started forwards to only Tartarus knows where. The air soon became thicker and harder to breath, even for me as a god. Perseus seemed to have a hard time walking straight, as if he was drunk.

Suddenly, in the distance, there was loud cry, almost like a moan. It was a guttural heart wrenching sound of something in pain. Instinctively, my hand went to my side where my knives were sheathed. Before I could draw them however, I felt something warm and soft on my hand and looked down.

Perseus had grabbed my hand to keep my from pulling out my knives. He gently moved it away from be side and squeezed it lightly. I expected him to let go after a couple second, but he kept a firm hold on it.

"W-what are y-you doing?" I asked.

"It's getting darker around here and I think it's best that we hold hands to make sure that we don't get separated from each other," He replied. I blushed at the thought of holding hands with a him for some reason.

"And don't worry, I'm not just making an excuse to hold your hand. I really think it's a good idea to do this, otherwise I would never think of grabbing your hand like this. I rather like my left hand." He added. I nodded, but inside, I felt a little disappointed that he didn't actually want to hold hands with me.

 _Why are you thinking these things? You should glad that he harbors no feelings for him, or else you would have to kill him._ My heart clenched in a way that I didn't understand at the thought of ever harming him.

 _It's because you like him. He has helped you countless times and you respect him for it,_ a voice in my head said. _No I don't! He's a male. There's no way that I would like him in that way. Respect him yes, but like him no way. And who are you anyways. Aphrodite, did you find a way to mind message me from Olympus?,_ I thought back.

 _Artemis, listen to my voice. I'm yourself except your more logical self. I have always tried to break through the barriers you have blocked me with, but I've never been able to. It seems that Perseus weakened them significantly. Anyways, just trust me, you like him. You may not realize it now, but you will soon enough,_ The other me told me.

 _I swore that I would never fall in love in my entire immortal life. I've stayed to that oath for over 3 millennia. I'm not going to stray from it just when one acceptable male comes along._ I argued.

 _Love is not something that you can control. Love is something that controls you. You cannot choose whether or not you are falling in love, oath or_ _not,_ it said.

 _I have not fallen in love in all my three thousand years of living and I am not about to start now. So, will you just be quiet!,_ I snapped back.

"What? I was just trying to lighten the mood, but if you don't want that, then I won't even try," Perseus said to me. Wait, oops, did I say that last part out loud. I didn't mean to hurt his feelings.

 _See? I told you that you care for him,_ said the other me smugly. _Shut up,_ I thought, making sure that I didn't say it out loud. I turned to Perseus.

"I'm sorry. Tartarus is doing things to my brain. I didn't mean to snap at you, I promise," I said. I was going to tell him about the voice in my head, but I couldn't have him questioning me about it. I was already confused about my own feelings and I didn't need Perseus knowing what was going on in my head to add to that.

He looked skeptical and still a little hurt, but he didn't argue. We kept walking, hand in hand, in an awkward silence. I could tell that Perseus did not really want to talk to me right now because he was slightly annoyed at me for being so rude at him. I did feel a little guilty about it, but it was better that way. One, I couldn't have him knowing about my inner thoughts, and two, maybe I should try not to be so close to him anymore. It is not good for my maiden vow.

Luckily, we didn't walk long in silence before it was interrupted. Unluckily, it was interrupted by a loud roar coming from my right side. Perseus and I scrambled away in surprise and looked over at where it had come from. Standing just ten feet in front of us was the Nemean Lion.

Standing on it's hind legs, it gave another loud growl at us and set it's legs down on the ground, stalking towards us. I quickly pulled out my two knives while Perseus managed to unsheath his sword. The Nemean Lion pounced at Perseus with it's jaws wide open, ready to rip his head off. Perseus expertly dove underneath it's belly and swiped his sword upwards.

His sword struck the stomach of the lion, but did not penetrate the invincible skin of the Nemean lion, only seeming to anger it even more. I got into a fighting position as I saw it circle around again, ready to make another attack. This time it charged at me with blinding speed. I barely managed to bring my knife up in time to block a swipe from it's paw and roll away from it's gaping maw.

"Artemis! Pull out your bow and get ready to shoot into his mouth. It's his only weak spot," I heard Perseus yell.

I nodded toward him and snapped my fingers. My beautiful silver bow materialized into my hand and I pulled back the string. An arrow shimmered into existence on the bowstring.

"Here Kitty-Kitty. I killed you once and I'm going to do it again. You ain't got nothing!" Perseus taunted the Nemean Lion. It rounded on him as his words had the desired effect of making it even madder if that was even possible. It ran at him with the intent of gutting him with it's claws, but Perseus was too nimble and dodged away towards me.

I saw what he was doing. He was trying to give me an opening to fire an arrow.

"Is that all you got?" He taunted again. The Nemean lion roared at him, it's mouth wide open. Perseus lunged towards it and jammed his sword into it's jaw, keeping it from closing. The lion fought, trying to dislodge the sword stuck in it's mouth, but it only managed to dig it deeper into it's skin. I quickly released the arrow before I shot another and another and another. Before long, it looked like it had a porcupine sticking out of it's mouth. There were so many arrows that you couldn't even see any of the pink of it's mouth any more.

The Nemean Lion tries to give another menacing growl, but it couldn't without whimpering in pain. It's legs gave out beneath it and it collapsed onto the ground of Tartarus, thrashing about. A minute later, it stopped convulsing and vanished in a poof of golden dust, leaving behind a sword and a hide made of golden fur.

"Well that was interesting. Our first fight in Tartarus. We have a one hundred percent win rate!" Perseus said excitedly. I just rolled my eyes and walked up to him.

"You should take the fur. You deserve it for coming up with the idea to kill it," I said to him.

"No, you were the one to kill it, I think your should have it. Plus, I don't want you to get hurt," He argued. I subtly blushed at the thought of him being worried for me. He had such care in his voice when he said that. _See? I told you that you like him. Who knows, maybe he likes you back,_ The voice in my head said to me. _Didn't I tell you to shut up?!,_ I thought angrily back at it.

"Percy, I'm a god, you are more at risk of something happening to you than I am," I replied.

"Oh, it's Percy now? And do I hear some worry in your voice, Arty?" He said teasingly.

"Shut up! I wasn't worried about you. Just about the fact that if you die, then I'll be stuck here alone. And don't call me Arty!" I yelled.

"Whatever, Arty. You know you're worried about me," He said, his voice filled with mirth. That idiot was obviously enjoying this.

"No I'm not! Will you just take it already so we can leave?!" I snapped at him. Finally, he bent down and picked up the hide, wrapping it around his shoulders

"Fine, but next time we get a spoil of war, you're taking it ok?"

I quickly agreed, not wanting to spend another second bickering with the moron. He held out his hand for me to take again, but I indignantly shook my head and strode past him into the darkness of Tartarus.

He had to jog to catch up with me.

"Hey, look, sorry if I annoyed you, but I was just trying to lighten the mood. I hope you don't hate me too much. It wouldn't be too pleasant walking through one of the most dangerous places even for gods with somebody that you don't like," He tried to apologize.

"I know and I'm sorry that I got so annoyed, but you just infuriate me so much some times. It may seem like I hate you, but I really don't and you are the only male that I can accept company from," I sighed.

I know it went against my original train of thought, but I just couldn't keep deluding myself into thinking that Perseus was not worthy of my friendship. He is everything that a male should be and he has not done anything to disrespect me in any way, aside from mild teasing.

 _You're relationship with Percy is growing. This is going to turn into something beautiful,_ the voice in my head almost sung. This time, I chose to ignore it, I was too tired to even project a thought to it.

"Thank you, Artemis. OOOOOOH! Look! A fortress!" He shouted. I looked around but didn't see anything.

"What fortre-" I said, before catching sight of the biggest fort I had ever seen. I couldn't even see from one end to another with my godly vision and the top extended far into the red clouds above. It had an eerie feeling attached to it. There was nothing stirring around it and I couldn't here a single thing inside. There was no way I had missed this. It was huge!

"What the hell?" Perseus breathed.

"I don't know. I'm not sure how I didn't see before. Even if I hadn't seen it, I should have sensed it from a mile away. I wonder what it's here for."

We started to walk around it before Perseus made the stupid decision to touch the wall. And there were no words to describe what happened after that.

(End of Chapter 14)

the guy who loves all gunpla: Unless I'm mistaken, then I don't think you're thinking about the right book. The last book of the first series is called "The Last Olympian" and "The House of Hades" is in the second series. So just to make it clear, Iapetus is not Bob yet in this story.

Guest #1: Yeah! I'll try to give him some powers over other liquids in a future chapter. Not sure if I'm going to be able to do it while their in Tartarus though.

Guest #2: I'm not sure what you want me to do. The link you gave me doesn't really lead to anything. Sorry!

siqdaqlotay07: Thank you! For the sake of this story, I'm going to say that cronus is the not evil version of kronos. I admit that after you asked me this, I realized that cronus and kronos are the same people. You can call me stupid xD

ghostchilli666: Maybe, maybe not ;). You're just going to have to read and find out I guess. Thanks though!

BlueWafflesFTW: HaHa! Yep, it totally sucks doesn't it. I like your pen name btw :)

 **A.N: Hey Guys! I'm really trying my best to the best quality chapters out. I really enjoy reading your reviews and I just ask that you keep showing the support that you've been showing me from the start. Thanks!**

 **P.S: Sorry for not updating at regular intervals, but I kind of like to update whenever I feel like it. I promise that it won't be too long in between chapters though. Just don't be surprised when three or four days go by without another chapter.**


	15. Chapter 15

Percy POV:

As I touched the wall of the giant fortress, a runic word glowed underneath my hand and all around us, the ground started to shake.

"What did you do?!" Artemis yelled while glaring at me.

"I have no idea. I just touched the wall and it started glowing and shaking. How was I supposed to know that it would do this."

I felt an immense power coming from inside the walls of the building. There was a flash and the shaking stopped, replaced by a figure standing outside the walls, floating in the air above us.

"WHO DARES COME NEAR MY HOUSE?!" The figure bellowed. It was obviously a feminine voice, but it sounded just as scary as Ares in full rage mode. I could tell you from personal experience that it's scary as hell. She was holding two swords up and ready to slice anything in her path. She obviously very beautiful with wavy black hair flowing down her back and black eyes that sucked you in.

The woman had an extremely strong aura emanating from her. The shadows bent and warped around her, making her look even more mystical and terrifying. I realized with a jolt, that this was not somebody that I had ever hoped to meet in my entire existence. The Primordial of Night, Nyx. Artemis looked at her with a defiant look in her eyes, before I laid a hand on her arm, trying to cool that glare before she got us killed. She looked over at me and saw the fear in my eyes. She got the warning and backed down, but still looking a little confused about it.

I bowed to the Primordial, not wanting to disrespect her and make her mad.

"I'm sorry Lady Nyx. We did not mean to venture into your domain." Artemis recoiled at her name. Nyx's eyes narrowed in suspicion. I could tell that she didn't believe a word I had just said.

"And why are you and that goddess in Tartarus in the first place?" She growled.

"Lady Nyx," Artemis said bowing, finally realizing the importance to do so,"We are on a quest. You see, a man visited me in my dreams claiming that we had only 2 months of peace left before he attacks. By the way he looked and the amount of power he had, we are almost certain that this man is someone named Apollyon. I'm sure you were one of the Primordials who fought against him before he was trapped."

Nyx looked shocked by this news.

"You're telling me that the Angel of the Abyss has managed to escape his prison in the Void? You had better not be joking. Even _I_ know that if this is true, then it would mean something terrible for every single being in the universe."

"I swear on the Styx that what I have said is true," I said. Thunder rumbled in the clouds above and when nothing happened to me, Nyx looked at us with a new seriousness in her eyes.

"While I do not like you two, I think it would be unwise to kill you here. I will escort you into the castle, but I will warn you. Do not do anything out of line or I will not hesitate to end both of you."

We both nodded so hard that I thought one of our heads was bound to pop off. She led us into the enormous palace. The inside was just like you would expect off the Primordial of Night: dark, very dark. Did she not know any other color than black. I mean who needs black blinds in the middle of Tartarus?

She stopped us once we reached a room and pushed the door open. We found ourselves in a room that looked like somewhere that you would plan a war in. Maps with detailed battle plans one them were scattered about the room.

"Tell me everything that you know about Apollyon's goal when he came to you," She demanded, whirling around to face us once the door was closed.

I told her about Artemis' dream and about the attack from Nico. She did not seem surprised when I mentioned this. She had a thoughtful look on her face, before something dawned on her.

"I think I know why your friend attacked you. There is one goddess that I would suspect who has turned you friend over to their side. Peitho is the greek goddess of persuasion, having the power to influence people's thoughts and manipulate their feelings. I have not heard or seen her for many many years, so not unlikely that she has been hiding out until Apollyon escaped from his entrapment. She was said to have betrayed many of the gods and joined his side from the desire for power. This is probably her doing," Nyx said.

"If this is the case, then is there any way to break him out from under her control?" I asked," And if she can do this to anybody, why stop at just him? Why not take control of me?"

"There may be a way to break her control over him. In order to do so, he must realize that he is under her control and fight her mentally. It would be very hard, but possible. As for your other question, you Perseus Jackson are very hard to manipulate. Your fatal flaw is loyalty, making it next to impossible to force you to betray your family. Not to mention, you have very strong mental strength, even I could not read you thoughts if I tried."

I let this information sink in. I wonder why this is. I'm just a demigod. Right?

"Anyways, I assume that you have come here to seek the location of the key that will lock him in the Void forever?"

"How did you know?" I asked shocked.

"It does not take a genius to figure out that you wouldn't jump into Tartarus because you wanted to. The key is really the only way to stop him. I know that your fatal flaw would make you do a lot of foolish things to help your family." She explained.

I nodded my head in understanding.

"So, do you have any idea where this key may be hidden?" Artemis asked a little impatiently.

"Watch your tone goddess, you will not get answers from me by speaking so disrespectfully," Nyx said with warning in her voice,"I do not know the exact location, but I do have a pretty good idea of where it may be hidden. In the exact center of Tartarus, there is a symbol on the ground of a circle and a man in the middle holding a sword with galaxy-like eyes. He is said to be the first being and the creator of the universe, Chaos"

"And is this where the key is hidden?" I asked.

"Maybe. This symbol is very special. No being has ever managed to step into the circle without burning up and dying an extremely painful death. If you can somehow manage get into the circle, then this may lead to where the key is," She explained.

"So the plan is to step into the circle and hope that I don't die. That doesn't sound like much of a plan," I said.

"This is the only way that you might have a chance. It is very unlikely that this will work though. Once long ago, one of the original titans tried to step into the middle of the circle to prove that he was the strongest being, but he didn't get more than two steps in before he faded. It was like he disappeared without a trace except for the fact that his screams of pain were still resonating throughout the pit."

"I don't know why you felt that it was necessary to share that with us before we are going to attempt to step in ourselves."

"I think that it is necessary that you know what you are getting into. It will be very dangerous and almost definitely fatal," Nyx said," I would tell you that you do not have to do this, but I don't think that there is anybody else that is capable of it. You are by far the most powerful and brave mortal that has ever walked that planet of yours. I do not like you, but I am not foolish enough to think that you are not a hero."

I bowed to her,"Thank you, Lady Nyx. I know the dangers of this mission already and I am ready to take anything that may befall upon me." I was more than a little shocked. Less than fifteen minutes ago, she was ready to beat me into a bloody mess, but now, she was actually complementing me and telling me that I am a hero.

"I will provide provisions for you on your journey to the center of The Pit. I sense that you already have the blessing of Hestia so food and water will not be a problem. I will give you a tent that you can sleep and the ability to see in the dark as I understand that Hades' blessing does not give you this power."

"How did you know that they had blessed me?"

"I can feel each different power that is coming from you. I sense that you have received the blessing of all the Olympian gods and are powerful enough to defeat many of the Minor gods," She said.

I nodded my understanding. Nyx turned to Artemis, regarding her with a slightly calculating gaze.

"Artemis, I thank you as well. From my experience with the Olympians, not many of them would risk fading to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. You are truly one of the best goddess out there." Nyx complimented.

Artemis bowed," Thank you."

Nyx nodded and snapped her fingers. A small box like shape appeared in her hand.

"This tent will be able to shrink enough for you to be able to fit it in you pocket. Don't worry, it is bigger on the inside and has multiple bedrooms so you will not have to sleep together," She said with a mischievous smirk. I blushed a little at the thought of sharing a bed with Arty and looked over, seeing that Artemis' face was a little red as well. _Why would she be blushing at this. She must be angry just at the thought_. I took the tent from her outstretched hand and placed it in my pocket.

Nyx then placed her hand on my shoulder, whispering a couple words before I suddenly, I could see more clearly in the dark than in the light.

"You will now be able to see in the dark, which will be especially useful here in The Pit," She said,"I think it is time for you two to leave. If you should ever need something, then all you have to do is pray to me. I would gladly help if it meant saving everybody else. I wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you so much for your kindness, Lady Nyx. You will forever be known as the Primordial that helped save the universe," Artemis said as we both bowed.

"I do not need recognition for this. Only the knowledge that everybody is safe once again. That is good enough for me," She answered.

"Well, thank you nonetheless," I said.

She nodded and led us back out of her palace and out onto the plains of Tartarus once again. She wished us farewell and good luck one last time, before we were off again on our little adventure to save the world.

(Line Break)

It had been three hours of walking in the direction of the center of this Chaos forsaken pit. Luckily I could see in the dark now, but the air was still hard to breath and my lungs burned with each breath I took. Artemis seemed to be faring far better than I, probably because she was a god. She was still walking, or jogging more like it, briskly without any sign of pause.

My legs felt like they were made of jelly. My knees wobbled and my body shook as we continued on. It took all of my strength to walk ten feet and I was struggling to keep up with Artemis.

Apparently my body couldn't handle all the strain and I promptly collapsed onto the ground in a heap behind Artemis. She heard a sound behind her and turned around, her eyes widening at the sight of me. The last thing I saw before Tartarus faded around me, was Artemis rushing over to my side with a concerned look in her eyes as she looked down at me.

(Line Break)

I woke up in a room with plain white walls and a chair beside the bed. Looking around, I noticed that there was somebody seated next to me with her head on the bed next to me. Auburn hair. Forest scent. Artemis.

Why was Artemis sitting next to my bed? Then, I remembered where we were and what we were doing and my mood took a complete 180 degree turn. _Wow, even in Tartarus, Arty looks beautiful._ _Wait, what? Did I really think that? I guess there's really no denying that Arty really is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. These thoughts are so wrong, but I can't stop myself from thinking the truth._ _Why am I even thinking this? Remember Percy, Maiden Goddess, Man Hater. MAIDEN goddess, MAN hater. You're a MAN and there's no way she would like you._

Looking back on it, this was really the moment that I had truly fallen in love with Artemis, the goddess of the Moon.

* * *

Artemis woke up a moment later, looking drearily around the room, before her eyes set on me and she jumped back into the chair behind her. Maybe I was imagining things, but I thought I saw a tinge of red on those cheeks before her eyes hardened and she glared at me fiercely.

"Why didn't you tell me that you needed to rest?!" She yelled at me.

"I didn't want to drag you down and seem weak. I guess in the end, I ended up dragging you down anyways," I said dejectedly. Her face softened as I said this.

"Percy, you don't need to try to stay strong for me. If you need to rest, then just tell me and I won't have a problem with stopping for a while. Just please don't do that again, ok?"

I nodded, relieved that she wasn't going to kill me. _Wait a minute..._

"Hey, did I hear you call me Percy? And are you worried for me?"

"N-no! I am not worried for you! I just need you to test the circle for me. I don't want to fade," She stammered

"Uh-huh"

"S-shut up!"

"Fine, but only if you start calling me Percy" I said.

"Never!" she replied adamantly.

"Then you'll never hear the end of this. This will be marked as the day when Artemis, the biggest hater of men, was worried for a BOY," I said. Her face became red at the thought of Apollo laughing at her and teasing her about it.

"Fine! I'll call you Percy from now on, Perseus." I raised my eyebrow. "I mean P-P-Percy." She managed to say. She exerted a lot of strength just saying that one word.

"*Huff!* Get up and let's eat something. We haven't had a meal since we fell into this stupid pit and I'm hungry," She said, going back to her usual ill-tempered attitude. _Well, it was good while it lasted_.

She left the room to give me some privacy. After using the bathroom, I walked down the hall, finding the stairs which lead into a neat kitchen. Artemis was already there sitting at the dining table, looking at me impatiently.

"Summon a meal. I'm tired of waiting for you to get your ass down here."

I sighed and clapped my hands. Orange smoke erupted out of the center of the table and in it's place lay a feast of various dishes. Artemis summoned a plate and piled some mashed potatoes and a slab of steak to go along with it onto her plate. I summoned myself and her each a glass that would fill with our desired drinks. I sat down and scooped some spaghetti onto a plate and forked some into my mouth, before swallowing. Man, when you're in Tartarus, home cooked meals taste so much better. I would never take spaghetti for granted again.

After finishing my plate, I looked to Artemis who was just finishing with her fifth plate. _Geez, how fast can she eat._

"Like the food, Arty?" I asked amusingly

"What? No. It tastes terrible. I'm just really hungry and I would rather not starve to death before we reach the key." She hastily replied, slowing down her bites.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyways, where is this place?" I asked her, gesturing around us.

She finished her bite and responded,"This is the tent that Lady Nyx gave us. It's pretty nice if you ask me."

I hummed in agreement through another huge forkful of noodles.

"By the way, thanks for putting me into that bed and waiting for me to wake up."

"Don't worry about, but don't you go around getting hurt again, because I don't want to be saving your butt all the time."

We finished eating and cleaned up the table. I brought the left over food over to the fire place and sacrificed a bit to each of the Olympians, making sure to give extra to Artemis, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia, and Athena.

"I don't really know what time it is, but I think we should rest a little before starting back up again. You need to regain all of your strength for tomorrow," Artemis said.

"Okay."

I walked back up the stairs with Artemis behind me. I walked down the hall and slipped into the room that I had been asleep in. Artemis had split off and opened the door to a room across the hall. Before she stepped in however, she turned around walked forward, wrapping her arms around me. "Good night, Percy. Thank you for being here with me. I don't think I could handle this alone," She whispered. I was too shocked to move and by the time I had realized what happened, she had rushed into the room and shut the door behind her.

I was still shocked. Artemis had hugged me. I could still feel her warm arms wrapped around my waist and the sound of her soft voice murmuring into my ear. It took me a good couple minutes until I finally strode back into the room and changed into my pajamas for bed.

As I fell asleep that night, I could envision her scent in my nostrils and her slender arms around me, like a lullaby of no words.

 _Tartarus is not the most pleasant place to be in, but at least I have Arty with me,_ I thought, just before I fell into a dreamless sleep.

(End of Chapter 15)

jontybhardwaj13gmail: Thanks! :)

the guy that loves all gunpla: I have not read the demigod files and so I wasn't sure what you guys were talking about. I thought you meant 'The House of Hades'. Anyways, thanks for the complements. You've been one of my most dedicated readers from the start so thanks for that as well.

dragonoid9810: Yeah, sorry, I realized that you guys weren't actually talking about 'The House of Hades'. No, I haven't read 'The Demigod Files' so I didn't know that Iapetus was Bob before 'The House of Hades'.

sidaqlotay07: House of Nyx, but you were close enough!

ghostchilli666: Hey! I would be happy to help you with your story, but sadly, I don't use social media very much. Is there any other way that I could help you? And I am definitely evil! :)

Wulfkin17: Thank you! Yeah, that was a mistake on my part, glad you caught it!

 **A.N: Here's chapter 15! A little Pertemis fluff for you guys. I hope you like how their relationship is developing.**

 **P.S: We hit 10,000 views! I wanted to thank you guys so much for everything you have said and done for this story. I know I say it too much, but I just can't thank you enough. I'm really having a great time writing for you guys and I hope you're having just as great of a time reading my story. Next goal, 15,000! My goal for this story is 50 reviews, 100 favorites, and 100 follows. We're already half way there!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A.N: I realize that there has been some confusion with Iapetus and whether or not he is Bob at this time. I apologize that I have not read 'The Demigod Files' and was not aware that Iapetus had actually been Bob by TLO. For the sake of this story, assume that Iapetus is not Bob and he will never be Bob.**

Percy POV:

The next morning, I woke up in a comfortable bed with a thick blanket draped over my body. I rolled onto the floor with a groan and picked myself up. I looked down the hall and saw that Artemis' door was open. _I guess she's an early riser_.

After brushing my teeth and changing into slightly more presentable clothing, I padded down the stairs and into the kitchen. Artemis was sitting at the table with a plate of bacon and pancakes in front of her. She glanced up at me before setting her head down and continuing to eat her breakfast.

"Well, good morning to you as well," I said a little irritated that she had blown me off. She just grunted and stared at her plate even more intently. _What's wrong with her this morning. I wonder if it had to do with what happened last night?_

I decided to ignore her and grabbed a plate off the counter, plating some of the left over food that she had cooked for herself. It wasn't much, but I didn't want to waste the energy of summoning more food.

We finished breakfast in silence and I walked back up the stairs to gather my gear before we started our journey. I assembled my weapons and my armor and walked out of my room and back to the dining room. Artemis was already there with her bow slung over her shoulder and her usual hunting clothes on. When she looked up at me, I nodded to tell her that I was ready. She sat up promptly and walked briskly out the door. I didn't exactly know that she was doing, but I followed her anyways.

When we were back outside, she turned back to the tent and shouted,"μαζεύω (shrink)!" The tent immediately responded by disappearing from view. She walked over to the spot where it had been and picked something up, putting it in her pocket. I realized that the tent had shrunk to an unimaginably small size.

"We will walk towards the center of Tartarus. Hopefully we will reach it by the end of it and be done with this stupid mission," She said, finally opening her mouth and acknowledging me verbally.

"That sounds good to me."

I stayed quite as we walked, as I didn't want to annoy Artemis anymore. It wouldn't do to have her angry at me if we were in a dire situation.

(Line Break)

My legs hurt and my feet burned. I looked up and saw Artemis about ten feet ahead of me.

"Artemis!" I shouted. She paused ,"Can we rest? I don't think my body can take much more walking before I collapse again."

She looked at me a little annoyed, but nodded and stopped, letting me catch up. I sat down on the floor and lay on my back, taking in deep breaths to calm my rapid breathing. She sat down to my right and set her bow on the ground beside her.

We had been sitting like that for ten minutes when we heard a voice behind us.

"Well isn't this nice. The little goddess of the moon sitting with the hero of Olympus," Said the voice. It sounded cold and abrasive to my ears and I had the sudden urge to cover them and cower into a ball. I shuddered at the familiarity of the voice.

Artemis and I whirled around and came face to face with the one person who I had once considered a younger brother.

"Nico?" I breathed.

"Heh, I'm surprised you remember my name. After all, you did leave me on my own after the war. Didn't even visit me once," He sneered. Suddenly, I felt guilty. I had not contacted any of my friends after the war. The ones who had stood by me till the very end. The ones who I could always count on. And they couldn't even count on me. This was the consequence.

"Nico, I'm so sorry. I didn't think about what you guys were going through when I left. I was just sucked into my own world of grief. Please, don't do this, little bro," I pleaded.

"You lost the privilege to call me little brother the second you turned your back on me. You're nothing to me now," He spat. Tears fell from my eyes as I wallowed in self-loathing. I couldn't believe that I had forgotten about my friends, my family.

"Percy! Stop, he is trying to get to your head. Don't listen to him. You are a hero, a true hero," Artemis said as she tried to coax me back to reality, but it was no use. I was already too far gone. There was nothing that would bring me back from the little world of pain and guilt that I was swallowed into.

"What have you done to him?" Artemis growled at Nico.

"I've only told him the truth. This is all his fault," He said gesturing to himself,"If he hadn't forgotten about the most important people in his life, I wouldn't be here, allied with the enemy. I had always been a very loyal and truthful person, but Perseus here, broke that."

"You're wrong. Percy is the only truly good male I have ever met. You couldn't compare to him in any aspect," Artemis growled. She drew her knives and charged Nico in fury. I tried to tell her that it wasn't a good idea, but she didn't listen.

Nico just sneered and pulled out his sword. It was a beautifully crafted blade, with a black edge and a skull just above the crossguard. It had a faint glow to it that made it seem powerful and deadly.

As Artemis neared, Nico raised his right hand and a skeletal hand crawled out the ground behind her, grabbing her ankle. Artemis tripped and tumbled to the ground, only to roll back to her feet into a defensive position. Nico slowly walked towards her, his sword dragging on the ground, making a scratching noise as he neared her.

"I will give you one opportunity to surrender. Otherwise, you are in for the fight of your life," He said.

"Surrender Artemis! We don't have time for this!" I yelled at her. She just ignored me and glared straight ahead at Nico addressing him in a dark, cold voice.

"Like I would ever bow down to a filthy male like you."

"Well that was your chance. Now you die," Nico said as he shrugged with mock sympathy. He ran at Artemis with blinding speed and swung his sword towards her head. Sparks flew as Artemis barely managed to block his strike before she was beheaded. Nico continued his onslaught and I watched helplessly as Artemis struggled to keep up with his attacks. He seemed to wield his sword much faster than he should have been able to, given his size.

Suddenly, Artemis jumped backwards and reset her position before going on the offensive. I could barely keep up with her attacks, but Nico wasn't fazed at all, blocking ever single one of her attempts to land a strike. I knew he was good, but not _this_ good. He didn't even look like he was really trying. Then I realized something.

His eyes did not seem normal. They were pitch black in contrary to his normal dark brown. He had an aura to him that was even more powerful than Artemis' and possibly even Hades himself. Either he got some serious upgrades, or it was something else. His voice had sounded different from when he had attacked me at my cabin.

Artemis was still on the attack. She managed to land a small slash on his arm. I gasped at the sight of his blood. Black. This was not Nico. Apollyon must have found a way to put him under his control and use his body as a puppet. Everything about him was different aside from his looks.

"Artemis! Get out of there! This isn't Nico. He's being possessed by something!" I shouted at her. The body of Nico turned it's head towards me and gave me a dark grin.

"So you finally figured it out. I'm just using this little weakling body as a tool for my own use. I can control him and make him do anything that I want," It said. That explained why Nico was so good at fighting and how his aura was so strong all of a sudden.

Artemis seemed to realize the futility of this fight and began to retreat, but Nico wasn't having it. He pressed forwards and pushed her farther and farther back raining blow after blow on her weakening defense. Finally, he seemed to get tired of toying with her and slammed his hand into her arm, making her drop both knives to cradle her injured appendage.

"Let this show you that there is nothing you little fleas can do to stop me. I will have mercy on your little goddess friend this one time, but next time, there will be no mercy," Nico said, still possessed. He looked at me before stabbing his sword into Artemis' leg. She gave a cry of pain that echoed throughout my head. He gave me one last sneer and disappeared in a flash of black light.

I wasted no time rushing to Artemis' side.

"Artemis! Stay with me. I'll get the tent and we can get heal that wound of yours," I said a little panicked. The truth was, I felt extremely guilty about it. I hadn't even helped her in the fight. I was too weak and cowardly, and now another one of my friends was hurt because it me.

Artemis just gave a whimper of pain and then went quiet. I frantically patted her down for the little cube in her pocket. I found it in the front pocket of her hunting jacket and quickly threw it onto the ground in front of us.

"Καλλιεργώ!" I shouted. Instantly, the tent enlarged, growing to the size of a camping tent. I dragged Artemis over to the opening and pulled inside. I was still a little awed about how big it was inside compared to the outside, but now was not the time to be admiring our tent. Artemis was hurt.

I didn't want to admit that it, but watching her squirm in pain was one of the hardest things I had ever had to do. Over the course of this quest, I had grown fond of her and I would never want to see her injured like this. I would never tell her this though, or else I would become a figurehead on the wall of her room back at Olympus.

I carried her up the stairs and laid her down on one of the beds in an extra room down the hall. I quickly summoned some nectar and ambrosia, before pouring some of the nectar on the wound. Nico's sword had carved a decent sized hole in her leg that would definitely take some time to heal. I guess we would be sitting in here for a couple days while she healed. I fed her some ambrosia and turned to leave.

Her hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. I turned around and saw that she was struggling to sit up. I quickly tried to push her back down to lying position, but she brushed off my hands.

"Are you sure you're alright. I don't want you to strain your leg more than you have to. It might lengthen the healing process," I said worriedly.

"Percy, I'm a god. I should be completely healed in the next day or two," She replied,"Thanks for bringing me up here and healing me." I nodded.

"Look, everything that he said was not true. You didn't turn your back on your friends, you just temporarily distanced yourself from them. If they can't accept that, then they don't deserve to be your friend," She said, looking me directly in the eye. I stared into her striking silver eyes and saw that there was nothing but sorrow and understanding there.

"But Nico wouldn't have turned over to they're side if he hadn't felt that I had forgotten about him. I know that Peitho was involved in persuading him to join their side, but she's the goddess of persuasion not compulsion. He had to have something in his mind telling him that I had abandoned him, otherwise persuasion wouldn't work on him."

"I know, but it wasn't your fault and you should accept that. Plus, it wasn't Nico who was speaking. Somebody was using his body to say those words to you and hope that you take them to heart. They're trying to weaken your mental defense and make you helpless against them," She said.

"It still hurts knowing that Nico would think that I hadn't cared about him. Hearing his body say that was worse than any wound," I said brokenly.

"Well, if you don't stop blaming yourself, then I'll give you a wound that's worse," She said. My face paled and she smiled at my discomfort.

"Enough of this petty talk. Would you please summon some food for me. I would rather not cook for obvious reasons and I will need some energy to recover before we can start towards the center again," Artemis said.

I clapped my hands and a plate of assorted foods appeared on the table beside her along with utensils. I handed her a fork and she started scarfing down the food like it was the best thing she had ever tasted, which it quite possible may have been. I silently thanked Hestia for her blessing. At first, I hadn't thought that it would have been _that_ useful, but now that we're here in Tartarus, I realized that it may have been the best blessing out of all the Olympian gods.

"Wait a minute, why couldn't you have just flashed us to the center of Tartarus? Why waste our time walking?" I asked.

"My godly powers seem to be nullified. I can't figure out why, but it may have to do with where we are right now. That is why I was beaten so badly by that _male,"_ She said, spitting out the word 'male'.

"About that...," I said getting ready to tease her.

"Not a word," She glared at me. I gulped. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea. Artemis could probably tear me apart with her bare hands even when she's incapacitated like this.

"Ok then,"I said, trying to stray away from the topic,"Will you be fine here on your own? I want to I.M my family back home. I haven't talked to them since we jumped into this pit."

She nodded, still glaring at me, and I walked back down the hall to the bathroom. I turned on the shower and used the mist to send my message.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the mist, please accept my offering and show me Poseidon, god of the Sea," I said, throwing a golden drachma into the steam. An image shimmered into existence and my father appeared in the I.M.

He was pacing in the middle of bedroom, looking distraught and anxious. _I wonder what's gotten him all riled up._

"Father."

He whipped around and his eyes found the I.M.

"Perseus! I've been so worried about you! How are you doing my son?" He asked. He was clearly happy that I had called him and the he had a certain light in his eyes that hadn't been there before.

"Hey Day. I'm doing well. We figured out what we need to do to get the key," I said. I didn't want to go into much detail because he would become even more worried about me. My father had always been there for me and I wanted to make sure that he wouldn't spend too much time thinking and fretting over me.

"Well I'm happy that you're doing well on your quest. Everybody up here is very worried about you. I can tell that even Zeus holds a certain respect for you and he doesn't want to see you dead."

"That's a surprise."

He nodded,"I know you're probably on crunch time, so I'll let you go back to your mission. I'm guessing you're going to want to I.M some other people as well. I expect that you I.M me again some other time."

"Thanks Dad. I'll try to I.M you again soon," I said before swiping my hand through the mist and ending the call.

I grabbed another drachma from my bag and threw it into the mist,"Oh, Iris, goddess of the mist, please accept my offering and show me Hestia, goddess of the Hearth."

The mist shimmered once again and an 8 year old girl appeared sitting in front of a fire, prodding it with a fire poker. She seemed to sense a presence by her side and looked over to me.

"Perseus? Is that you?" Hestia asked.

"Yes, My Lady. It is me. Artemis and I are in Tartarus right now," I said.

"Are you in a house? How come you're in a bathroom right now?"

"Oh, Lady Nyx gave us a tent that is like a house on the inside," I said as nonchalantly as possible. Her eyes widened.

"Lady Nyx? Young man, tell me everything that's happened since the last time I saw you," She demanded.

"Sure, but first can you summon Athena and Hera? I think they would want to hear this too."

She nodded and waved her hand. Suddenly, there were two figures behind standing behind her. One with strawberry blonde hair cascading down her back giving her a regal look. The other with chocolate brown curls who had a more motherly look to her. Athena and Hera.

"Hestia? Why have you brought us here?" Athena asked in confusion.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Hestia said, gesturing in my direction. They looked towards me and they gasped when they saw the I.M.

"Perseus?" Hera asked, tears in her eyes. She had become something of a mother figure in my life. During the time that I had trained with the Olympian gods, she had always been very supportive of me and I had spent a lot of my free time with her. I was surprised at first that she had wanted to make amends for what she had done towards me. She had never wanted to hurt me and was just trying to do what was right, but it didn't turn out to be the best choice.

"Hello Hera. I'm glad you seem to be doing well." I said.

"How are you faring down there Percy?" Asked Athena. Like Hera, I had developed a strong bond with her. I thought of her as my older sister. I could tell that she thought the same way and we had taken to calling each other 'Sister' and 'Brother'.

"Hey Sis," I said,"It's been pretty rough for Artemis and I. Not somewhere that I would want to travel for vacation that's for sure."

She chuckled lightly,"You're the only one who would make a joke out of Tartarus, little brother."

"Enough of this. I want to know what's happened so far," Hestia interjected.

I proceeded to animatedly tell them about our journey to the center, acting out every little detail. They listened intently the whole time, not once interrupting my incredible story. Once I had finished, there was a good minute of silence before Athena spoke up.

"Wow, I wish I could have been there to beat up that kid Nico for you."

"He wasn't in his right mind. Someone was controlling him using his body. I'm not sure who it was, but I have a pretty good idea."

"I'm sorry that you have to do this. Once this is all over, I think you should stop going on quests to save everybody. You've already done enough for us already," Hera said.

"I will think about it," I said sincerely,"In the meantime, I need to send one more I.M. I will try to call you another time."

They nodded and waved goodbye, before Hestia reached forwards and swiped her little 8 year old hand through the mist, ending the call. I just sat there for a minute, staring and the steam where they had been. I really hoped that I would be able to make it out of here and see those faces again.

I pulled out one final drachma and threw it into the mist (Sorry if this seems repetitive) to contact the one person who I loved more than anything in the world.

"Oh, Iris goddess of the mist, please accept my offering and show my, Sally Jackson."

The mist once again shimmered. And the face of a little girl showed up in the image.

"It's Percy! Hi Percy!" Ashley shouted.

I smiled with affection at my little sister. Even though she was my sister in blood, I had started thinking of her as more of a daughter.

"Hey Ashley. I hope you're doing alright."

"Percy?" I hear in the background before Ashley is gently lifted away from the image and was replaced by my mom. She had tears in her eyes and a large smile plastered onto her face.

"Oh, my baby! You're alright! I was so worried that something had happened to you." She said tearfully.

"Hey Mom. Yeah, I'm alright, just wanted to stop by and say hi, make sure everything was good up there."

"Well, it's not the same without you around, but we are doing fine."

"Ok, well, glad everything's ok. I need to get back to tending to Artemis. She was hurt in a fight." She looked a little worried at this. Good thing I hadn't gone into to any details, otherwise she would have probably fainted by now. She nodded in understanding, but I could still see the concern behind her eyes.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine," I reassured her.

"If you say so. Go, baby, make your mother proud," She said, tears flooding into her eyes. My own eyes were starting to get a little wet. I blew her a kiss and swiped my hand through the mist. A single tear fell down my cheek and rolled down my chin, dropping onto the floor with a _plop._

I wiped my face and splashed it with water to hide any trace of tears. I didn't want to look weak in front of Artemis. I strode back to her room and opened the door to see her still in the same sitting position I had left her in.

"How did it go?" She asked.

"Fine, I was able to I.M everybody that I wanted to without bursting into tears," I replied,"Anyways, I've been meaning to ask you something, but didn't get the chance today."

"And what might that be?"

"Can I ask you why you were so distant this morning. You didn't say a word to me all morning."

She looked guiltily at the floor and bowed her head.

"You have to understand that I've been against the male gender for pretty much my entire life. Now you come along and you're making me question my views on men. I was trying to distance myself from you so that I wouldn't have to make an exception. So that you would hate me and I could go back to hating you," She said softly.

I placed my hand under her chin and raised her head so that she was forced to look me in the eyes.

"Artemis, you don't have to make an exception for me. You can hate me if you want, but please at least try to see the good in me. You don't have to like me, but I ask that you tolerate me. After this quest is over, if you still hate me, then you don't have to ever speak with me again. For the rest of this mission, just try to see that I am worthy of your friendship because I really hope that I am."

"That's the thing Percy, you are worthy of my friendship. The only male on this planet who is so. I was just too naive to see it. From now on, I'll try to be more friendly towards you. I can assure you that you are the greatest male to ever walk the earth and I definitely don't hate you. Thank you for that," She said. She leaned forwards and kissed my cheek softly. I could feel her lush auburn hair brushing softly against my cheek and her warm breath on my face. As soon as it came, the feeling vanished and she was back leaning against the headboard of the bed.

By the time I had recovered from my shock, she was snoring softly, her head lolling to the side as she slept peacefully.

I blushed and placed my hand on my face where she had kissed me. _Wow._

(End of Chapter 16)

the guy who loves all gunpla: Thanks! I'm glad you like it.

Axccel: I wish! But no, I don't want their relationship to grow _that_ fast xD

siqdaqlotay07: I'm not sure about that. I don't know if I want to give Percy powers that may be a little unrealistic.

ghostchilli666: There may be a way to do it some other way. I'll P.M you with more details. Thanks for the review!

 **A.N: This chapter's a little longer than normal for you guys who wanted longer chapters. Please tell me if you guys think that the Pertemis relationship is moving too fast. Make sure you do so in this next chapter because after that, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to slow it down very easily. Just keep in mind that this story is probably about half way done or maybe a little more. I personally think that it's going pretty well though.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A.N: The beginning of this chapter starts out with a bit more fluff. I wanted to end the last chapter at Percy's POV, so here's Arty's POV. Sorry if it's _toooo_ fluffy. Enjoy!**

Artemis POV:

I jogged side by side with Percy. I had a feeling that we were nearing our destination and the sooner we got there the better. Suddenly, I tripped on a rock that was jutting out of the ground. I felt a pair of hands catch me before I could fall. As I looked up, I lost myself in Percy's beautiful eyes. He just smirked at me.

"Be more careful, Arty. We wouldn't want you get hurt," He said.

"Thanks," I muttered softly, not even registering in my brain that he had called me by my nickname. He gave me that blinding smile again and pulled me up to a standing position before jogging away. I blushed faintly, the feeling of his hands still gently placed on either side of my shoulders. I thought back to last night. _What is wrong with me?_

Flashback:

 _I waited patiently on the bed as Percy contacted his family. Even though he had assured me that he was alright, I could tell that he was still wounded by the words that had come out of that boy's mouth. For some reason, I didn't ever want to see Percy upset about anything. His smile lit up Tartarus like a light in the dark and his sea green eyes shone brightly whenever he was happy._

 _Speaking of Percy, here he comes. Percy walked through the doorway. I could see a tear stain that he had obviously attempted to hide from me. It must have been hard for him to see his family, but be able to touch them._

 _"How did it go?" I asked him._

 _"Fine, I was able to I.M everybody that I wanted to without bursting into tears," He replied. My lips upturned ever so slightly at that. Of course he would try to make a joke out of it. He always seemed to be able to find the humor in something, no matter what it was. That was one of the many things that I admired about his personality and what made him the best male alive._

 _"Anyways, I've been meaning to ask you something, but didn't get the chance today."_

 _"And what might that be?" I inquired._

 _"Can I ask you why you were so distant this morning? You didn't say a word to me all morning,_ " _He said. Immediately the guilt hit. There was no excuse for my behavior towards him. He didn't deserve that kind of treatment and my actions were unfair to him. I looked down in shame and remorse._

 _"You have to understand that I've been against the male gender for pretty much my entire life. Now you come along and you're making me question my views on men. You're so much better than any other male I've ever met. I was trying to distance myself from you so that I wouldn't have to make an exception. So that you would hate me and I could go back to hating you," I replied softly. I hoped that he would understand. I knew that this didn't justify the way I had acted, but at least it offered some form of apology._

 _I felt his hand underneath my chin, tilting it upwards so that I was staring into his vibrant green eyes. I had to fight the urge to lose myself in their endless pools._

 _"Artemis, you don't have to make an exception for me. You can hate me if you want, but please at least try to see the good in me. You don't have to like me, but I ask that you tolerate me. After this quest is over, if you still hate me, then you don't have to ever speak with me again. For the rest of this mission, just try to see that I am worthy of your friendship because I really hope that I am."_

 _His words just made me feel even more guilty and tears welled up in my eyes. He really thought that I hated him. In truth, it was far from it. I had realized that everything about him was the exact opposite of what I had believed males to be. I was starting to like him, maybe even something different, something more. And not a single thing I could say or think would ever change that._

(Thoughts are not italicized) Didn't I tell you that you would feel this way? I knew because I _am_ you, the annoying voice in my head said. _Great, it's back._ Yes, yes you did. Now could you please be quiet, I thought back. _I heard a faint chuckling in the back of my mind and then nothing. I guess it had decided to shut up for once. Maybe because it had finally gotten me to admit that it was right._

 _"That's the thing Percy, you are worthy of my friendship. The only male on this planet who is so. I was just too naive to see it. From now on, I'll try to be more welcoming to your friendship. I can assure you that you are the greatest male to ever walk the earth and I definitely don't hate you. Thank you for that," I said with as much sincerity as I could manage. I needed him to understand that I didn't hate him and that he really was the only male that could ever be a true friend of mine._

 _On impulse, I leaned forwards and pecked him on the cheek, letting my lips linger for a couple seconds before drawing back and resting my head on my pillow once again. I took note of his quickly reddening face and his shocked expression. One that was mirrored on my own at my actions. That was by far the most intimate thing I had ever done with a man, but Chaos knows he deserved it._

 _On the outside, it may have looked like I was asleep, but I was most definitely wide awake. My mind was reeling from what I had just done. Part of it was telling me that it was wrong and that I should never have done it, but a bigger part was shouting that it was destined to happen. That there was nothing that could ever have stopped that kiss. And for whatever reason, the rest of me seemed to agree with the bigger part._

Flashback End:

I looked to Percy, who was walking beside me, and took in every detail on his face, every molecule of his being. There was no denying that I felt something for him. I just wasn't sure what it was.

(Too much fluffiness for me, giving me the feels! On with the real story!)

* * *

I was pulled out of my thoughts when Percy laid his hand on my arm, stopping me in my tracks. I looked at him questioningly. He pulled me down behind a small hill and peeked his head out over the top.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"There's somebody or something in front of us, I'm not sure what it is."

I looked over the top of the hill and saw what he was talking about. There were two shadows about a hundred feet in front of us. They looked humanoid, but I couldn't see through the red haze covering the landscape.

"Let's get closer and take a look. Just don't stand up or make any noise. If this is a person, then it wouldn't be wise to alert them of our presence," Percy whispered. I nodded and we crawled towards the figure on our stomachs, making sure to stay behind the cover of any hills or rocks that we could find.

As we got closer, I could that tell that there was not one, but two figures, and they were most definitely alive. We approached them and by now, I could clearly see that they were empousa. Their donkey legs were visible and their celestial bronze prosthetic legs gleamed in the dim light.

They were conversing in a hushed tone and I had to strain my ears to hear what they were saying.

"Master told us to find them and bring them to him," One of them said.

"I know, but we haven't found a trace of them since we started searching," Said the other.

"Well, it's your job to track them. Master didn't send you to track them so you could fail. Try harder!" The first shrieked.

"Why don't you try finding a puny demigod and a goddess in this pitiful place. The air clouds my senses. I can't even see a hundred feet in front of me!"

The first one, the one who I assumed was in charge, growled and pulled out her knife, swinging it at the so called 'tracker'. They started a full out brawl with each other, each trying to behead the other.

I felt Percy tense when he heard their voices.

"What?" I whispered to him.

"Those voices. I think it's Tammi and Kelli, the two empousa that attacked me at my old school. I managed to kill both of them, but they seemed to have reformed already. If they're working for Apollyon, then there's no doubt that there are other monsters allied with him. At least they're stupid enough to fight over something so small. Maybe they'll slowly kill each other off," He whispered back jokingly.

I took in this information. What other monsters could be working for Apollyon? There was no way that any monster would give up an opportunity to see Olympus fall. I shuddered at the thought of having to fighting Typhon and Kampê. It had taken all the Olympians to bring Typhon by himself to his knees. With Kampê by his side, those two alone could be the downfall of Olympus.

If we didn't succeed in obtaining Apollyon's key and imprisoning him forever, then the battle ahead of us would be calamitous and hopeless for our side. This was more than a little worrying.

As the two empousa continued clashing, Percy shifted from his position behind the boulder. A small pebble under his foot was lodged free from the ground bellow and rolled down the steep slope behind us. It landed at the bottom with an almost imperceptible clinking noise as it bounced off another rock, but it was loud enough.

The two empousa immediately stopped what they were doing and I could almost see their ears twitching.

"Did you hear something?" Asked Kelli.

"Yeah. Whoever you are, come out and surrender yourself to us! If you do, then we might consider letting you live," Tammi yelled. I snorted. Monsters have no mercy. You could beg and beg, but they wouldn't even give so much as a second thought as they slit your throat.

I turned to Percy, only to find that he was gone with no trace that he had even been there. Where the hell had he gone? All of a sudden, I heard a loud yell and the sound of metal clashing. I quickly looked around the boulder and was shocked to see Percy with his sword through the back of Kelli. _What are you doing, Percy?!_

He quickly advanced on Tammi and ran her through as well, but not before she stabbed her sword into the ground and muttered something under her breath. The ground opened up and hands rose out as she burst into gold dust. There were at least thirty cyclops with nasty looking clubs, ready to smash our heads into our bodies. _Just what we needed, more monsters to draw attention to ourselves._ Why did Percy have to be so seaweed brained?

"That, is not what I expected to happen," Percy said a little shocked," Hey Arty, where you at? Get your butt over here and help me kill them!"

I jumped out of my hiding spot and drew my bow, firing an arrow at one of the nearing cyclops, causing it to burst into dust.

"If you hadn't been so reckless, then we wouldn't be in this mess. Why are you blaming me?" I quipped as we continued slaying the monsters.

"Fine, I admit it, it's my fault, but at least it's just some cyclops. Nothing we can't handle."

No later had he said that, another couple monsters rose up behind the phalanx of cyclops. We heard a scream of rage and the two monsters charged to the front of the group, killing a couple cyclops in the process of doing so. Echidna and the Chimera.

Echidna had the appearance of a fat lady who had scraggly hair and grotesque facial features. Her nose was bent and her face was twisted into a permanent scowl. If I hadn't known better, then I would have thought a homeless woman had crawled into Tartarus. The Chimera had the front half of a lion and the back a goat. It had leathery wings and a fire was spurting out of it's snorting nostrils. I could almost smell the stench of it's breath all the way from here. Decayed and rotten flesh.

 _Great, this is just fantastic._

"Oh, that's not good," Percy said.

"Way to jinx it."

"Hey, how could I have known that Echidna and the Chimera were going appear?"

I just shook my head and drew my knives, running at Echidna. By now, all the cyclops had been slaughtered by either us, or Echidna and the Chimera.

"You take the Chimera, I'll get Echidna," I shouted at Percy.

He nodded and started fighting the Chimera with his sword. It spat fire in his face, but Percy was unaffected, as he had the blessing of both Hestia and Hephaestus. I turned my attention to Echidna as she pulled out a midget knife. It looked like a toothpick in her chubby hands.

"What are you going to do with a knife that small, huh?" I taunted her.

"Foolish little goddess," She spat. She spun the tiny blade around and tapped the hilt with her finger. The knife elongated by tenfold and now she held a broadsword the width of my entire body. (I'm pretty sure Echidna doesn't use a broadsword, but for this she does)

"That's more like it. Now let's see if you can actually use it," I jeered. My words had the intended effect and she snarled in fury.

"You ask me that when your head when rolls away from your dead body," She barked. She brought the sword above her head and swung it downwards towards my head. It was easy to dodge, but when it stuck the ground, it caused at tremor, making me fall to my feet. I quickly recovered and jumped up, ready to fight again.

I attempted to slash at the abdomen, but she caught my writ and punched my stomach. I soared through the air and landed on the ground twenty feet away, the air taken from my lungs. _That is what I call a sucker punch. I need a new strategy. This isn't going to get me anywhere._

Echidna stomped towards me , her belly fat jiggling. I pretended to full on charge her. She attempted to slice my feet off with a low sideways strike, but I managed to jump over it and continue running at her. As I neared her, I dropped to my knees and slid under her legs, opening a gash in her leg as I passed through. I stood up behind her and jumped onto her back, driving both my knives between her shoulder blades.

She roared in pain and tried to throw me off her back, but I held firmly onto the hilts of my knives. Maybe she was crazy, maybe she was suicidal, but she swung her sword towards her own back in an attempt to slice me in half. I nimbly avoided the blade causing her to lacerate her own back. A deep cut appeared on her fatty skin, spurting blood all over my clothes.

I deftly jumped to the ground again walked around to her front.

"I guess you really don't know how to use that thing," I said, before stabbing her in the heart and watching as she slowly crumbled to dust. I turned to see how Percy was doing and saw that the Chimera had him pinned to the ground with it's teeth gnashing in his face. It opened it's mouth, about to spurt fire and turn Percy into a fried fish, but I reacted quickly.

The Chimera howled and fell off Percy with an arrow lodged in it's side. Percy hastily scrambled to his feet with his sword held out in front of him. The Chimera growled at him and it's snake tail squirmed, eager to take a bite of delicious demigod flesh. Monsters always targeted the most powerful demigods because they had the most tasty meat. Percy was definitely the most tasty demigod out there.

The Chimera launched itself into action and it came springing towards Percy. Percy stabbed his sword forwards into the mouth and down the throat of the legendary mythological beast. It gave one last cry and slumped to the ground, breathing heavily. Percy grabbed his sword and decapitated the animal to end it's misery.

"Thanks for saving me," He said.

"No problem, just don't get in trouble like that again. I might decide not to help you next time," I said threateningly.

"I don't think that's possible. Trouble seems to find me wherever I go."

"Or you just go out of you way to get into to trouble."

He just shrugged at that ,"Let's get going. We need to find that circle before Apollyon does. Although, based on what those two empousa were saying, I think he already knows that we are coming. And I'm not sure who was controlling Nico, but that person probably informed Apollyon of our presence as well."

A silence settled between us with the knowledge that we were no longer alone down here. There were monsters greater than our worst nightmares lurking everywhere in this abyss.

We had just made it over a ridge and were standing at the top of a large hill, when I felt a power surge coming from in front of us. It was far too immense to be any sort of monster and it felt even more sinister.

"Did you feel that?" I asked Percy.

He nodded gravely," I think it's them. A signal to us, that he knows we draw near. As much as I hate to say it, I think it's best if we move towards it. It would probably lead us right where we want to be. The only problem is, it will also may lead us to our impending doom."

"Well that's reassuring. Let's go."

We practically jumped off the steep side of the hill and landed on our back, sliding the rest of the way and coming to a skidding stop at the bottom. Another pulse of power seemed to explode outwards coming from straight ahead.

Involuntarily, I grabbed the first thing I could find around me. Percy's hand. He didn't seem to mind and squeezed it within his own. I looked up at him and saw a cold determination in his eyes which made me feel slightly better myself, but I could feel a little sweat on his palm, indicating that he was more nervous than he let on.

"I wanted to say that if we don't make it out of here alive, then I gladly call you the only male friend I have ever had. Because of you, my views on men have changed slightly and I now believe that there might be some good men somewhere in the world," I said the Percy earnestly.

"Shush, there is no 'if'. We will get out of here and we will succeed. I am grateful for your words though and I take them to heart. I think I can safely call you one of my best friends at the moment."

I gave him one last nod of acknowledgement and we were on our way to fight with the most powerful being the universe had ever seen.

(Line Break)

The throbbing of the power coming from this one location was astounding. Every minute or so, another wave shot and spread through the surrounding area. Around here it was so strong that Percy and I had trouble standing upright as it passed through us. This type of power could only be from something so ancient that us gods had not even known about it. I was not sure even a primordial could produce this level of strength.

It took us ten minutes to find it, but here we were. There sitting before us was the one thing that we had come all the way here for.

A gold circle with a picture of man standing in the center. It glowed with an ethereal light that almost entranced me. The man in the center had a dress robe on with stars and galaxies imprinted on the folds. His sword looked deadly and it gave off a dangerous feeling. There was no doubt that this is what we were looking for.

I guess this was it, the final destination. I gripped Percy's hand even tighter and felt him squeeze back. We took step after step towards the symbol on the ground until we were standing right in front of it. I could almost feel the barrier that extended from the outer ring upwards. It was like someone had placed it there intentionally to keep people out.

"This is it. If this doesn't work, then we fade into nothing and the universe is doomed. One of us needs to take the chance. I'll do it. You stand back," Percy said.

"No, we are going to do it together. What's the point in doing it one by one. If this doesn't work, then it won't matter anyways."

He looked like he wanted to disagree, but after thinking about it for a couple seconds, he finally consented. We exchanged one final look of friendship between us before making a move to step into the circle.

Before we could even lift our feet, we heard a voice behind us.

"Where do you think you're going? You think you can just escape us by stepping into that circle. It will only be the most painful experience of your entire life, but it would be better than if I got my hands on you. Unfortunately for you, you won't be getting that type of mercy," It said. It was the same voice that had spoken to me in my dream. Apollyon. We swivelled around and saw three figures standing there.

A man cloaked in shadows stood there grinning at us with an evil glint in his eyes, almost gleefully. Nico was standing next to him with the same black eyes that he had when we encountered him a day earlier, and...

Nyx.

(End of Chapter 17)

the guy who loves all gunpla: I will try to keep this pace of Pertemis. This chapter might speed it up a little, but I hope it's ok. I will definitely continue!

ghostchilli666: P.M stands for Private message. I tried to P.M you, but you had it disabled on your account so I was unable to contact you. If you enable it, then I will be able to help you with your story from here. If you already found someone else to help you, then no worries. Thanks for the review. The Pertemis ship is sailing!

SPQR-Alan: I will definitely keep that in mind. I'll try to make the conflicts a little longer. I hope this chapter was satisfactory. I appreciate the feedback!

jontybhardwaj13 gmail: Thank you!

objudge125: Thank you so much! I will continue and I hope that the rest of the story is as good as you say it has been so far.

Hatfilmz: Yeah, I'm trying to make my story as original as possible as I don't really like the Pertemis fanfiction that push Percy and Arty into a relationship too fast. I prefer them to build their relationship overtime. Thank you for the complement!

 **A.N: I had intended this chapter to have more content in it, but it turned out that it was already long enough and if I had put what I wanted in there, then it would have been far too long and the update would have been even later. You will see that part in the next chapter.**

 **P.S: So sorry for the late update. No real excuse for it, just got a little lazy. SORRY! This story is not something that I don't think I will ever abandon, so until the end of the story, you can expect more updates.**


	18. Chapter 18

Percy POV:

Nyx? What was Nyx doing here? Then it struck me. She must have made up some story about the center of Tartarus just so that we would come here. Apollyon would then know exactly where we would be headed, making it easier for him to find and kill us.

Did she really betray us? She had seemed to sincere about helping us when we had talked to her, but now I guess she never really was. There was no way that we would ever get out of here alive now, but what did it matter. Nyx's betrayal would be the end of the universe as we know it and there wasn't anything we could do to stop it. I squeezed Artemis' hand to tell her that she had been a good partner in crime, hoping that she got the message. I felt her squeeze back.

"Nyx? What are you doing here?" I asked, although I already knew.

"Did you really think I would follow a feeble demigod such as yourself. I'm surprised you even believed what I said when you stumbled upon my palace. It was so easy to convince you that I was doing the right thing," She sneered. It hurt knowing that the only person I thought could have helped us, had betrayed us.

"How could you?! This is about the future of our universe and you don't even care!" Artemis screeched at her.

"I do not care because I will gain more power than ever before. Helping Apollyon gives me the opportunity to take what was rightfully mine," she said haughtily.

"This is unbelievable. I should have expected a primordial to succumb to power. We should not have trusted such a being," Artemis muttered to me, so that only I could hear. Event though she had betrayed us, it would not be wise to insult her openly. It would only cause anger on her part and death on ours.

"Well then, what do you want with us. There isn't much we can do against the 'most powerful being in the universe'. So not just kill us right now and get it over with," I shouted at Apollyon.

"You're going to die alright, but not by my hand. You'll die by your precious little brother's," He said, his lips contorted into a disturbing looking smile. Apollyon was enjoying playing with the people who had been so much of a problem for him.

"Nico, you will kill the boy, but leave the girl. Make sure that she watches him die, but don't let her interfere," He ordered.

Nico's now black eyes almost seemed to grow a little brighter with excitement. The body of Nico brought out it's sword from scabbard on it's back and started to slowly walk towards the us.

"Artemis, he told him not to harm you, so you just stand back. I'll handle this myself," I said, pushing her behind me protectively. The only thought on my mind was defending her. I didn't care if I had to die, but she would get out of here safely and inform the Olympian council.

"No way, I'm going to help you. If Apollyon has somebody taking control of his body, then the being must be very strong. You won't be able to beat him alone, trust me. Plus, he told Nico not to harm me, so I should be ok. You'll just be the distraction," She said.

"Wow, so I'm the noble sacrifice?"

"Yep."(not popping the p because that's annoying)

I'll be one good noble sacrifice then. The best they come.

As Nico approached, I could see the glee in his eyes at the prospect of killing us, and was reminded once again that this wasn't him. This put me at a major disadvantage though, because not only is this new person a lot more skilled, but I really don't want to hurt Nico in the process. If his body is destroyed or damaged, then Apollyon would just dispose of it and find a new puppet to put under his control.

I unsheathed Frostbite and gave a test swing to make sure that the balance was correct. I could always alter it with my powers over water. The blade gleaming and the tip ended in a point no thicker than the width of a sheet of paper.

Artemis stood behind me with her bow in her hands ready to bring it up at a moments notice. An arrow wasn't on the string at the moment, but I knew that once she drew the string back, an arrow would be there in the blink of an eye.

"Hello, Big Brother. I'll have fun killing you. Don't think you're little goddess friend will be able to help you," the 'Nico' said in a distorted voice. It was no better than nails on a chalkboard or a knife scraping on a bottle.

"You are not my little brother," I growled.

It just smirked and brought up it's sword for the first strike. I instinctively raised my own sword to block, but I hadn't realized the speed of which his would move. He swung at me, but instead of at my head where I expected, he feinted and stabbed at my stomach instead. I felt it graze my side and warm blood immediately gushed out of the wound.

I ignored it and sliced my sword towards his exposed neck, but was shocked to find that a second later, he held the blade with two of his fingers just a couple centimeters away from his face. He twisted his hand and I felt the blade jerk a little. I looked back and my eyes widened in amazement and a little fear as I saw that he had snapped the tip clean off. I now held a sword that was half the original size, the other half still in his two fingers.

As he lifted his sword to finish me off, I prayed to every god I knew of in hopes that one would be able to help me. I waited for the blow, but none came. I slowly opened my eyes and saw that Nico was staggering back with an arrow implanted in his right hip. I guess there was a goddess that could help me. Artemis.

I looked back only to see her flying through the air ten feet and slamming into a rock. She struggled to get up, but undead hands rose from the ground and held her in place, rendering her useless for the remainder of this battle, which was not looking too bright for either of us.

"Artemis!" I yelled. I turned back to 'Nico' and glared at him. He just had an amused look on his face and dismissed my look of fury.

"Now that the pest is gone, we can really fight."

"You want a real fight? Well I'll give you a real fight!" I shouted at him. I was too angry at him to even think about what I was saying. There was no way that I could ever keep up with the skill that was being displayed in front of me. Not in swordsmanship, not in strength, not even in godly powers. There was not way I could survive unless I found a way to utilize my smarts... Which were pretty much nonexistent. So, I was screwed.

He advanced on me again, his sword twirling all around his body. He was like a hurricane of blades and I couldn't even distinguish where his sword actually was. I managed to block most of the strikes, but some broke through my defenses. By the time he was done with his onslaught, I was covered in cuts all over my body. My clothes were so soaked in blood that you couldn't even tell what the original color was.

While I was struggling to stay alive, 'Nico' was looking like it was the best day of his life. There was not a single mark on him. In fact, he hadn't even broken a sweat yet. His smile was as wide as ever, and his eyes showed only a cruel delight in their murky pools of darkness.

In a final effort to save my own ass, I threw my hands out and channeled as much power into the as possible. Fire burst free from both hands and enveloped him while skeletal hands held him in place as I roasted him alive. Unexpectedly, I didn't hear the screams of pain that I had anticipated, only mirthless laughter booming from the center of the fire.

I let it dissipate and there he stood, perfectly fine. Not even his clothes were singed by the scorching heat of Hephaestus and Hestia's blessing. The undead hands had been commanded to let go and grab me, as his command over the undead overruled my own. There was really no hope for me now.

"No more tricks up your sleeve now eh, Jackson. I have to say, the fire and the undead were certainly a surprise to me. I barely managed to block it before I was burnt to a crisp. No matter, now you die."

He approached me and I gave a fearful glance up at him, seeing his sword poised above my stomach. Just as he was about to thrust the sword down and end my life, he stumbled back and held his head, screaming in pain. His eyes went back to normal for just a split second before switching back to it's original black. There was no malice or hate in them, just the dark brown that I was so used to. The real Nico was fighting for control over the body. Maybe the thought of killing me was enough to give him the will to fight back.

His eyes flickered a couple more times, before finally settling on black, but I knew he was still in there, somewhere. 'Nico' unsteadily rose to his feet, his sword back in his hands.

"That little demigod. Now that the little vermin is out of the way, I think I should just get this over with," He snarled.

Before I could even react, or the real Nico could fight for control again, he shoved the blade of the sword into my stomach and let got, pinning me to the ground under my body. I could already see black on the edges of my vision and the world was fading around me. 'Nico' looked down at me in contempt and spat on my body before walking back to his master.

My head fell back and the last thing I saw before everything went black was Artemis, still restrained by the skeletons, with a terrified and panicked look on her face.

Artemis POV:

I watched helplessly as 'Nico' brought his sword down and stabbed it through Percy's stomach. I tried to scream, but the hand over my mouth prevented my from doing so. I could only look on in horror as Percy's body became limp and his eyes slowly closed. He gave me once last look of sorrow, before his head went completely slack and dropped to the ground.

He couldn't be dead. He just couldn't. He was the strongest demigod of them all. If he was dead, then what chance did we have. It wasn't just that, but he was my friend and seeing him so broken hurt me more than I cared to admit.

"Good job, 'Nico'. You have done your job well. Now I will leave Nyx to finish them off. Bring me the key when you are done," Apollyon instructed.

Nyx nodded to him and Apollyon and 'Nico' disappeared in a flash of black light, leaving Nyx alone with an almost-dead demigod and a defenseless goddess. With a snap of her fingers we would be gone from existence with no chance of fighting back. She leisurely walked towards me and flicked her hand. The arms around me exploded into fine dust. I jumped up and scrambled away from her with my knives drawn.

"Do not come any closer!" I shouted.

She just sighed," I guess this is the reaction I anticipated. Look, I'm sorry about what I did, but I was forced to do it."

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

"No, I'm telling the truth. I realized after you left that the key was not exactly where I thought it was," She said.

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion.

"Fine, I swear on the Styx that I didn't truly betray you and I just used Apollyon to find you so that I could bring this information to you," She vowed. Thunder crashed above, but she wasn't struck down, meaning that she had told the truth. Slowly I lowered my knives and glowered at her. I was still not entirely trusting her as she had betrayed us.;

"Speak," I ordered. It probably wasn't the best idea to order a primordial around, but I was just too angry at her to think straight. Percy had been injured because of her. _Wait. Percy!_

Before she could even open her mouth, I was already sprinting away to Percy's side. He had long lost consciousness and there was a massive pool of blood around his body. The sword was still run through his body and there was a trickle of blood running out of the corner of his mouth. All in all, it wasn't the prettiest sight. Nyx came up next to me and looked grimly down at his body.

"Help him! Is the anything you can do?" I yelled frantically at her.

"I can only stop the bleeding. I'm not sure what I can do about the blood he has already lost. I'm surprised he's already alive," She said.

"Then please do it!"

"Pull the sword out and the minute I do, I will try to close the wound," She instructed.

My hands shook as they found the hilt of the sword. I tightened my grip and steeled my nerves before yanking the sword free from his stomach. I could feel it slice through eve more muscle and tissue as it came out, and his body jerked from the pain even when he was not aware of what was going on around him. His face scrunched up in a grimace, before becoming peaceful again. _I'm sorry._

Nyx splayed her hand over the wound and a faint light shone through the skin before disappearing along with the wound itself. It sealed slowly and the blood stopped flowing. My hands were drenched in demigod blood, even worse, Percy's blood.

"He should be fine for the moment, but he will likely not wake anytime soon," Nyx said.

"Thank you, Nyx. I'm sorry that I didn't trust you before, but I think you understand why I acted that way towards you," I apologized.

"Don't worry, I would have acted the same way if I had been betrayed," She assured me. She turned back to Percy and lifted him from the ground like he weighed no more than a feather.

"Do you still have the tent that I gave you. I think we need to treat his wounds so that we can get moving again. I will tell you about what I found out about the key after we get inside."

I nodded and pulled the miniature tent of of my pocket, throwing it on the ground in front of me. I muttered,"μαζεύω." and watched as it grew to the size of a normal tent.

Nyx followed me inside while carrying Percy. I took her to his bedroom and she laid him on the bed.

"I think it's best if we start the healing procedure first, then talk afterwards. Better safe than sorry," She suggested. I shrugged and watched as she closed her eyes and muttered a brief incantation before opening them again.

"I do not sense anything out of the ordinary, but there may be something that I am not able to sense, so we should keep a close eye on him for the time being," She said.

"Ok, now that that's in order. Can we talk about this finding you gone through so much trouble to tell us. And why didn't we get what we were coming for while we were there? Isn't it best so that Apollyon cannot access it?"

"That is what I have been trying to tell you. The key is not here. It is does not even have anything to do with the symbol of Chaos. You see, that symbol used to be somewhere that all the immortal beings went to pray to The Creator. It has not been used for a long time, as people seem to have forgotten that Chaos does in fact exist. Back to the point, the Primordials used this as a fake location. This information was only given to the original Primordials, but it has been lost in time. The only reason I know of it now is because I was contacted in my dream by Chaos himself. Believe it or not, Apollyon would be almost too much for even The Creator to handle," Nyx explained.

I let this sink in before asking,"Then where is it if not residing somewhere in the symbol of Chaos?"

"As you know, the key does not have to take a physical form. It can be infused within somebody. And I think we have that somebody right here next to us," She said turning her head to Percy.

I looked at her disbelievingly,"You think that an all powerful object capable of trapping the most destructive being ever is inside of Percy Jackson."

"I do."

"Well, shit."

She just chuckled.

"What does this mean for Percy? Will he be in any danger that this is inside him? And how do you know that it is inside him?"

"I do not think that it will bring him any harm to have it removed from his body, but he will feel like a fundamental part of his being had been taken away because he was technically born with it. Imagine if you had your oath ripped from you and you were now forced to associate yourself and even like males. That is how he would feel."

That would definitely not feel great. If I was forced to like men, then I think I would rather spend the rest of my life stuck in Alaska.

"I guess it's not the best, but it's better than it killing him," I replied.

"Yes. We will need to get him to Olympus before Apollyon realizes that I have not come back with the key. We should have a couple days. I can use the excuse that I am torturing you before I kill you and he will most likely buy it."

"How are we going to do that? It's not like I can just teleport out of here."

She was about to respond, but suddenly Percy starting jerking around. His body was spasming and there was froth dribbling out of his mouth. Nyx and I rushed to his side and tried to help him relax, but it only made him thrash harder.

"What's wrong with him?!" I yelled desperately.

"I'm not sure!"

She held her hands over his forehead and searched him body for anything unusual before gasping loudly at what she found. This only made me even more panicked and I was on the verge of a heart attack if that was even possible for an immortal.

"What?! What's happening to him?!"

"The sword that he was stabbed with was coated with poison. From the looks of it, it's Nightshade (Guess why I used this). There is no known cure for this poison yet!"

"What can we do for him?" I asked while still trying to hold Percy down to the bed. He was a lot stronger than I was and I was having a hard time even with my godly strength.

"I can think of only one way."

"Then do it! We have to save him no matter what it takes!"

"Are you sure that you would do whatever it takes to save him?" She asked. Why was she asking me this now?

"Yes! Now do it! Please!"

"Ok, this will require that you give him a small percentage of your godly essence. It will be enough to neutralize the poison in his bloodstream," She explained.

I was too worried about Percy to even consider what she was saying before I concentrated on my soul. I reached out an pulled a small strand of the many that held all my power, and carefully tore it from the rest. I sent this strand of power into his body and watched as it glowed slightly before sinking into his skin.

"Good. Now there is nothing more to be done. We just have to sit back and wait. Either it works or it doesn't," Nyx said softly. I nodded slowly and sat back in my chair. My heart was racing and I was extremely concerned for Percy's well-being. The fluttery feeling in my chest floated back up, but I repressed it. This was not the time to be thinking about those types of things.

"I must explain something to you that I did not have the time to before. By giving him a piece of your essence, you are essentially creating an mental and emotional bond between yourselves."

"Wait what?! How come you didn't tell me before?" I almost shouted at her. She just shrugged.

"Well, you did say that you were willing to do anything to save him and as I said before, I didn't really have the time," She said.

"But this is big! Now Percy and I are bonded and we didn't even have a choice in the matter."

"It was either this or he's dead. Which would you rather have. It is not too late to remove your essence and let him die."

"No!" I said almost instantaneously without a thought," We will not let Percy die."

"That is what I thought," She said," I will leave you two now. Once Percy wakes up, I will explain what this 'bond' entails so that both of you can hear it at the same time. I will probably stay for a couple nights to make sure that he is ok, but after that, you are on your own again. I won't abandon you, I'll just stay in the shadows, like I do best."

I watched her go, but stopped her just before she was out of sight.

"Nyx," I called out. I saw her stop in her place and wait for me to go on," Thank you."

"You are most welcome," She replied, before she moved out of view and down the stairs.

I turned back to look at Percy. By now he had stopped thrashing and looked tranquil sleeping there. I gently raised my hand and caressed his cheek tenderly. I could sense everything about him.

I could feel the beating of his heart, the rhythm of his breathing, every thought, every emotion, every single feeling in every part of his body. And most of all, I could feel his loneliness. The deep everlasting sorrow that the war had still left on his mind.

"I'm sorry, Percy. I promise I'll try to make it up to you. I don't know how, but I will," I whispered softly to him. Even though he was asleep, I could tell that he had heard me.

The man in front of me had gone through so much just to get here. He was deserving of everything that anybody could offer him. No other demigod or even god for that matter could ever compare to him in any way. I looked down at him. The one emotion that I had stopped feeling so many years ago bubbled up. And I realized it was love. Love for Percy Jackson.

(End of Chapter 18)

the guy who loves all gunpla: Thanks!

ghostchilli666: Thank you so much! I already PMed you, but I'm not sure if you know how to see them. You need to go to your profile page and it should be there.

SPQR-Alan: Yeah, sorry this story is going to be so short. It will probably be about 55-60 thousand words by the end. I'm not sure if I'm going to be making a sequel, but I'm leaning towards no. I can assure you that I will definitely be writing more after this though!

MasterTrident: Thank you for clarifying. I changed it.

sidaqlotay07: Yes, I'm glad you like the 'originalness'. I'm definitely doing that on purpose and I'm making it as original as possible.

 **A.N: This chapter might be a little disappointing compared to my other ones, but you guys can judge that. I felt like the wording for a lot of the scenes** was **a little awkward, but that might just be me. Which chapter do you guys think was the best so far? I'm curious.**

 **P.S: I'm sorry again for the sort of late update. I think that I am going to be updating less often from now on. Probably once a week, maybe twice if I have time. I just think that it's a little much to update every three days. I hope you guys are not too mad about this and are still enjoying the story so far.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A.N: Before you read this, I apologize in advance for any grammatical or spelling issues in this chapter. I was a little rushed so I didn't have time to edit, but after I post it, I will make sure to go through it an fix any problems.**

Percy POV:

All I remember after I was stabbed was the warm feeling of someone's hand in my own. I couldn't see or hear anything, but somehow I knew that the person this hand belonged to had been next to me the entire time I was unconscious.

Suddenly, my eyes opened in an unfamiliar place. I was standing in the middle of a dark wasteland. I saw demigods with swords and spears through their stomachs and golden monster dust piled around me. It was like a slaughter house. There was not a single living soul in sight. I stepped around the dead bodies, before my face settled on one and my heart lurched. The face of Artemis.

She looked like she was in pain, a grimace on her face. I hated that look on her face, but the worst part about it was the sword that stuck out of her chest. Riptide.

I hadn't used that sword since the beginning of the war because it brought back terrible memories, but here it was, in the worst place that it could ever be. I gasped as I looked past her and saw the bodies of everybody that I loved, staring back at me with their lifeless eyes. Ashley, Mom, Dad, Hestia, _everybody._ I almost broke down in tears at the sight.

The only thing holding them at bay, was the warm feeling rooting me to the outside world. Reminding me that this wasn't real, that this was all a dream.

"Oh, this _is_ just a dream, but this is very much real,"Spoke a voice behind me. I whirled around and found myself face to face with the Angel of the Abyss himself. His eyes were darker and more haunting then ever. They gazed at me, unblinkingly, with almost unbearable intensity.

I scrambled away from him and him and tried to avoid looking in his direction at all, for if I did, I would have surely wet my pants in fear. It was unbecoming of the Hero of Olympus to anything of the sort.

"What are you doing here?! And where am I?!" I yelled. It was all I could do to keep myself from stammering. I refused to show any sign of weakness to this monster, although based on the evil smirk on his face, I could tell that he could sense my fear from a mile away.

He chuckled at sneered at me,"Do you know where we are right now?" He didn't give me a chance to answer,"We're in your mind. This is where your greatest fears lie. You are afraid that everybody you know will die right before your eyes. Am I right?"

I didn't say anything. The truth of his words struck me like a hammer on an anvil. I had never thought about what my greatest fear was, but now, after I had seen this, I knew exactly what it was. Apollyon seemed to sense my thoughts.

"You know don't you. This is what will happen if you fail. This is what will happen if you are not able to fulfill you mission. This is what is going to happen. I will crush you with my bare hands and rip everything that you have ever loved away from your grasp," He snarled at me. I did not doubt his words and I shivered in fear.

I glanced up into his eyes and was confused to see a level of understanding in them. A look of longing within their inky depths. For just a moment, the icy look in his eyes was replaced by a warm, almost wistful look, but it was gone in a flash. There was something about him that he was hiding from the outside. Even the strongest most powerful beings succumb to emotions and Apollyon was not an exception.

"Something has happened to you. Something that has caused you to retreat into yourself and hide it away behind a facade of cruelty and savagery," I said with a burst of confidence. It was swept away with one look into his now blazing eyes.

"You know nothing of suffering of pain! Just know, Perseus Jackson, you will not succeed. There will be nothing left for you in that miserable world you live on. Not even your little silver goddess," He snarled, before flicking his hand.

The world around me blurred and disappeared, but not before I caught one last glimpse of the scene before me. The dead bodies of my most precious friends, scattered along the battlefield. And it chilled me to the bone.

* * *

I was left floating in the middle of a black abyss. Suddenly, pain flooded through my entire body worse than anything I had ever experienced. Worse than any sword wound or monster bite. Worse than even the Styx itself.

I screamed as I writhed in pain on the ground. The pain was so intense that I almost wished that I could just die. There was something holding me back though. The warm feeling in my hand spread throughout my body, soothing me. The pain was not gone, but I barely felt it anymore. A voice spoke around me and I tried to find the source of the sound, but I couldn't locate it. _I'm sorry, Percy. I promise I'll try to make it up to you. I don't know how, but I will._

It sounded angelic and it calmed me enough so that I could breathe again. The pain was just a fraction of what it had been a couple seconds ago. It had been reduced to only a dull throb. I felt a connection to this voice that I had never felt with anybody else before. It had a deeper meaning than even life itself.

Not even with _her,_ had I felt anything like this. For some reason, it didn't hurt to say her name anymore. It was like she had been replaced by somebody else. The miserable agony of her death was not present anymore. This is what _she_ would have wanted. I was finally able to let go.

Gradually, I felt myself return to the real world, and I could feel and hear everything around me now. I opened my eyes and blinked a couple times at the bright lights overhead. I slowly rose up into a sitting position on the bed that I was resting on. The earlier events came rushing back to me and I frantically scanned the room looking for a certain somebody.

My body sagged in relief as I caught sight of a particular goddess to my right with tears flowing freely from her silver pools. The moment she noticed that I was awake, she launched herself into my arms, sobbing in relief. I was a little shocked, but I hugged her just as tightly. It was only after pulled away that I realized we had been holding hands.

The same exact warm feeling was a still coursing through my hand and my body. _She_ had been the one giving me strength. _She_ had been my light in the darkness. But this _she_ was not the same _she_ anymore. Instead of Annabeth Chase, it was Artemis.

"Don't do that ever again! You almost died!" Artemis shouted at me. She looked almost distraught and I could tell that she had been worried for me the entire time I was unconscious.

"I'm sorry, Arty. You don't have to worry about me," I said. This earned me a punch on the arm. Damn, even when she was sad, she could really pack a punch.

"Idiot. I wasn't worried for you. Just mildly concerned," She said, but I could see her eyes soften from their normal icy stare. There was compassion in there, but also something else, different from anything I had ever seen in her. It was startlingly close to... Love.

I smirked at her, letting her know that I didn't believe her one bit. She huffed and let go of my hand to cross her arms over her chest. Immediately, I felt loss. It was like it had been stripped away from my body. I noticed Artemis shiver a bit. _I wonder if she felt it too._

I glanced back up to meet her eyes, but a glance turned to a stare of wonder and attraction. I couldn't pull my eyes away from her own. She seemed to have the same issue that I did and she was trying to pull her eyes away, but to no avail.

Without even noticing it, our bodies floated ever so slowly. As we moved closer and closer, I could feel my heart beating in my chest, but I could also feel her's as well. There was a sync to the rhythmic _thump... thump_ in both our chests. I could feel everything about here. Everything. It was almost like we were one person in two bodies. Like nothing could tear us apart.

Soon, we were in such close proximity that I could feel her hot breath on my face. And then our lips connected. Fireworks were going off in my brain and I felt like I could jump into space. There were no words to describe it. Her lips were almost velvety against my own. Our hands moved around the other and we pulled each other even closer together.

This wasn't one of those slobbery, wet, rough kisses. This was one of care and love. It was soft, but I could still feel her lips firmly pressed on my own, with no indication of stopping any time soon. I never wanted to stop. But alas, all good things must come to an end.

We heard somebody clear their throats by the doorway and say in an amused voice,"An I interrupting something?"

We pulled away so fast that I thought my head was going to fly off my neck. Both our entire faces were as red as a tomato dipped in ketchup.

I looked over to the doorway and almost fell of the bed trying to get away from the person standing there.

"What is N-Nyx doing here?" I stammered, pointing at the imposing figure. She was smiling at us, not with malice, but with delight. I was about to grab my sword and attack her to protect Arty, but said goddess laid her hand on my arm and shook her head.

"Why not? She betrayed us!"

"She didn't betray us. I'll let her explain to you," Artemis said, still a little flustered by our little... moment.

I turned to Nyx and looked at her suspiciously.

"Speak!"

She laughed a bit,"That's the same thing that Artemis said. Anyways, the only reason why I "betrayed" you, was because I needed to tell you something very important that you would most definitely need to know."

"And what is that?"

"This "key" is not actually where I thought it was. You should remember that it can take the shape of anything, even a person. It can be infused within somebody's soul."

I nodded.

"Well, I think that it's inside you. I have felt some irregular energy signatures coming from your body, that would show you are not a normal demigod," She said.

I froze in shock. One of the most powerful objects ever created was inside me? Nyx noticed my expression and laid her hand on my arm.

"This does not mean anything except that we need to get you to Olympus as quickly as possible. It will not hurt you, but it will take a lot of power to extract it from you."

"But still," I said, a little unsure what to think.

"It will be fine, Percy. We have Nyx to help us. I think she will be more than enough help to get us back up to our family."

"Ok..."

"Oh! And there is one more thing that I think we should discuss," Nyx said cheerfully. _Oh no..._

Artemis groaned and looked slightly embarrassed. She knew something that I didn't.

"You and Artemis have a soul bond!" Nyx shouted gleefully.

"A what?!"

"A soul bond! In order to heal you from the poison coating the blade that impaled you, she had to give you some of her godly essence, in turn, creating a bond between you two," She explained. If the previous news was a shock to me, then this was the entire electrical power plant. I sat there in a daze for a minute, drinking in the knowledge that I had just been given. Finally, I snapped out of it.

"Wait, can you repeat that?" I said. Nyx rolled her eyes at me.

"I said, You and Artemis have a soul bond," She repeated. I still wasn't sure if I had heard her right.

"Wait, say that again."

"Percy, will you stop. She said that we have a soul bond, so get over it," Artemis snapped.

"You knew about this?" I asked her.

"Duh, I was the one who gave you some of my essence. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't know how you would react. Nyx already told you so I don't need to worry about that anymore," she said, somewhat relieved.

"If you are fine with it, then I guess so am I. So what does this "bond" mean for us?" I questioned Nyx.

"Ah, I was waiting to tell Artemis so that both of you can hear this. Ok, a soul bond means that you will be able to feel your bond mate wherever they are, no matter how far away. Your emotions and thoughts will be transmitted to the other, but there are ways to control what the other can feel. You will be able to speak to each other through thought messages. You will most likely start to develop romantic feelings towards each other if that has not happened already," She explained. My cheeks tinted red at the thought of a romantic relationship with Artemis. The feelings had already started developing alright.

"Oh, and one more thing. You are pretty much linked for life, so I would get comfortable around each other, because you're not getting out of this bond. It's unbreakable. Well, normally it is, but not in this particular case."

"What do you mean 'not in this particular case'?"

"This bond is very rare because it requires that a god give a mortal some of his or her power without being forced in any way to do so. Normally, nothing happens between the two beings, but sometimes, if there is deep enough emotion attached to the immortal when giving the essence to the mortal, it will create a soul bond, which is what you have," Nyx explained.

Artemis had a deep emotion connected to me? Then I remembered the look in her eyes when I had woken up and the feeling of her warm lips on my own. I blushed a little just thinking about it. This emotion was very close to love, but there is no way that it was love itself. A maiden goddess couldn't love. At least that's what I thought.

I looked over at Artemis and was surprised to see that she had a look of indifference on her face.

"Why are you not angry about this? Shouldn't you be fuming about being connected to a boy?" I asked her. I noticed Nyx, who was behind Artemis, walk out the door and shut it softly behind her.

"I am not angry because I feel that you are the only male that is worthy of this. Don't get me wrong, this is not what I would have chosen to have happen, but it is what it is, and we must deal with it. Hopefully we can cooperate with this bond."

I was honestly a little astonished at the level of calmness that she showed.

"If you are willing to try, then I, so am I," I said. She nodded at me.

"Let's go. The sooner we get of this hell hole, the better. I think Nyx has a plan," She said and started to walk to the door.

"Artemis?" I said, stopping her.

I waited for her to turn back towards me before saying,"Thank you so much for curing me. I know that it has come with a consequence and you didn't have to do it, but you did."

"You're welcome, Percy. But you're wrong. I did have to do it. Not only are you our only hope to defeat Apollyon, but you are the a good person too. The only man that I would ever consider to be so. You don't have to thank me," She said sincerely. She looked like she was fighting herself over something. Suddenly, she leaned forwards and pecked me lightly on the lips, with only a bit of hesitation this time. Let's just say I was in la la land for a couple seconds.

She pulled away and looked at the dumb look on my face before chuckling,"Close that mouth of yours before I shut it for you." She turned around and started walking away.

I followed her out the door and down the stairs, still in a little bit of a stupor.

We made it to the bottom of the stairs and saw Nyx sitting at the dining room table, nursing a mug of hot chocolate in her palms. She looked up when she saw us and smiled mischievously.

"I see you're done chatting," She said eliciting a blush from our cheeks,"Now, let's get down to business, shall we?" We nodded.

"Ok, first things first. We need to get you back up to Olympus, which is easy. I can just flash you there. The only problem is that the moment Apollyon feels my godly powers being used, he will immediately be notified and he will probably show up. I should be able to make up a story about how you escaped. He will not be happy, but it should be believable enough that he won't question me. He won't be able to flash to Olympus in the next forty eight hours because I have put wards around it (think sort of like Harry Potter) in case he does see through my lie. They should be powerful enough to keep him at bay. It's not much, but it would give you some time."

"Thank you, Lady Nyx, but I can't help but wonder why you are helping us so much. You could by punished severely for you actions when or if Apollyon finds out," I thanked her.

"I would gladly fade to see the universe safe. I have had a long and prosperous life, so it might be time anyways to move onto the Realm of the Faded," She said earnestly. I was stunned by her selflessness. I had never expected a primordial to be willing to make such a sacrifice.

"When we succeed in defeating Apollyon, I can assure you that you will be greatly honored by the gods."

"I do not need recognition, just the knowledge that the world is safe," She said.

"We will make sure that your wish if fulfilled. Thank you so much for everything that you've done for us," Artemis said.

"You are most welcome. I will flash you to Olympus when you are ready. Just give me the word and you will be on your way. I wish you the best of luck."

I looked to Artemis and saw determination in her eyes. I could tell that she was thinking the same thing I was. _We're ready._

I turned to Nyx and gave her a final nod of gratitude. She nodded back and put her hand on my shoulder. I groped around to my right and grabbed onto Arty's hand, holding on firmly. I felt her squeeze just as tightly around my hand.

There was a flash of light, and we were gone.

We reappeared in the middle of the Olympian throne room. Artemis pulled out her bow and shot a silver blast into the air, which exploded. Almost instantly, every single god was in the throne room, seated and looking around apprehensively. All their eyes set on us at the same time and looked at us disbelievingly.

"Percy?"

(End of Chapter 19)

SPQR-Alan: I'll definitely consider your suggestion, but I'm afraid I already have a plan for the climax. I really appreciate the helpful feedback that you've been giving me.

the guy who loves all gunpla: Sorry about frostbite xD. Don't worry, it's not the end, it'll come back. Thanks for the review!

Kyle: Thank you! I'm glad that somebody enjoys it enough to read it all the way through!

 **A.N: Here's another chapter of 'The Sea and The Moon'! Let me know what you think about Artemis' reaction to this bond. Is she too calm? I tried to make it as realistic as possible with her developing love towards Percy. She has already admitted to herself that she loves him, so I think it's appropriate that she is ok with this soul bond.**

 **A.N #2: I realized after writing up to this point, that there are some plot holes in my story. For example, the fact that Percy is supposed to be the Guardian of Olympus and that he has only rescued one child so far. I'm not the best at remembering these types of things so I tend to forget what happened in past chapters very easily. I will try to fix some of these in the future, but I'm not sure if I will be able to rework my just so I can fit them in.**

 **P.S: I just wanted to point out that I didn't get very many reviews in the last chapter, which was very disappointing to me. I really love reading all of your reviews and I ask that you please leave one if you are willing to. I'm not forcing you, but I would appreciate it.**


	20. Chapter 20

**A.N: Just so you guys know, I have changed my pen name from 'TyGuyFlyGuy' to 'TyGuy45'. Just in case you didn't already notice. And a forewarning that this chapter may not be as interesting as the others. Sorry in advance.**

Artemis POV:

We appeared in the throne room and I quickly took out my bow, launching a silver arrow into the air to signal a council meeting. We needed to tell them of our findings as soon as possible.

Almost instantly the gods were assembled and in their thrones. Most of them were looking around wildly before their eyes caught our figures standing in the middle of the throne room. They all gasped in amazement and disbelief. Suddenly, a male voice rang out through the silence.

"Percy?" Poseidon asked with tears in his eyes. This was the closest I had ever seen the sea god to crying.

Beside me, Percy said,"Yes, dad, it's me. We're back." He had a wide smile on his face, which I daresay made him look even more handsome than he already was. What? I'm bonded to him, so I can think whatever I want about him. It still felt a little weird to complement a male's physical features though. After so long of not even acknowledging a single man, it was unnatural to me.

Poseidon had an equally large smile on his own face, and before I knew it, he had jumped off his throne and dashed towards us, hugging Percy tightly. I could see tears running down both of their faces, but I could feel a flash of happiness and relief flowing through my body that wasn't my own. I realized that it must have been from our soul bond. The feeling warmed me down to my bones and it made my skin tingle.

All of a sudden, three more pairs of arms were wrapped around the father and son. I looked over and saw that Hestia, Athena, and Hera were piling on top of Percy in an attempt to crush him within their embraces. Athena had a wide grin on her face, while Hestia and Hera were crying even harder than Poseidon was.

Some of the other gods were looking at the hugging group with a tender look on their face, while others were full out crying. I knew that they didn't all particularly like the Hero of Olympus, but every single one of them had some level of respect for him and were all glad that he was back safely. Some of them glanced at me and gave me a small smile and a nod to welcome me back, but they were nowhere near the expressions on the faces when looking at Percy. There had never been so many tears in this throne room at one time.

"I'm so glad you're ok, Percy," Cried Hestia. Hera and Athena nodded in agreement, still latched onto poor Percy as if their lives depended on it.

"Mmphhh!" I heard Percy screech from the middle of the group hug. I chuckled a bit before trying to pry the others off him. I didn't want him to suffocate _too_ soon. It was quite a long time before finally I manage to free Percy, who was gasping for breath.

After the four gods had calmed down, they walked back to their thrones and looked at us, obviously wondering what happened down in The Pit.

"Well, needless to say, we're all glad that you're back. It was getting rather quiet without Apollo and Artemis bickering over every little thing. As much as some of us would like to continue welcoming you home, I think we would all like to know what happened down there. Artemis?" Asked my father. All the gods and goddess nodded along at his statement and they looked the most focused on anything I had ever seen them on anything before. I was surprised by the concerned tone of my father's voice. I had never known him to show that kind of emotion for anyone, not even his own wife or children.

I told them of everything that had happened since we had willingly jumped into Tartarus. Percy chimed in every couple sentences to "embellish" my story as he claimed later, although I think it was just him trying to make his own deeds seem more impressive. Surprisingly, this didn't annoy me as much as it amused me.

I made sure not to tell them anything about Percy and my soul bond because I was afraid that it would stir up an argument between our two fathers. Fighting amongst ourselves was the last thing that we needed right now. I was also not exactly ready to share this little detail yet. I still hadn't fully come to terms with it yet myself and I was a little uncomfortable about speaking about it with even Percy.

As I told the story, the gods' eyes grew wider and wider to the point where I was worried that they would pop out of their heads. Nobody interrupted as they were too intent on listening. By the time I had finished, everybody was silent, taking in what they had just heard.

"So let me get this straight. This "key" is in Percy, right now. What does this mean for him? And this poison? Are you sure that you are completely cured of it?" Asked Hera worriedly. I knew that she, along with Athena and Hestia, were very close to Percy and I wasn't surprised that they were so worried for him.

"That is correct," Percy confirmed, "But according to Nyx, it shouldn't hurt me if you extract it. She said that we had two days before the wards she cast go down. I'm not sure how long extracting it will take. And yes, I believe that I am completely cured of this poison." He looked at me and smiled brightly. I knew that this was his way of thanking me again, so I smiled back.

Apollo suddenly piped in,"I think I should be able to pull it out in a couple hours. I sense it inside your body and I don't think it is completely infused, so it probably won't take too long. I could also check for that poison of yours. I just want to make sure that there is no lasting effect on you."

I nodded my thanks to him, something that I rarely do, and turned to Percy, "When would you like this procedure done?"

"I think it is best if we do it after this meeting is over. The sooner it's out the better," He said.

"Then we will wait until the end of this discussion," Zeus said, "Now, we must know everything about Apollyon so we have the best chance of defeating him. Have you had any other contact with him other than what you have already told us about?"

I shook my head, but when I looked to Percy, he had a grim and sad look in his eyes. "Percy?"

He turned to me and I saw that his face was gaunt and strained, a haunted look on it.

"Percy? What's that look for? Don't tell me he's come to you in your dream as he did me."

Suddenly, Percy's face broke into a miserable expression of sorrow and tears gathered in his eyes. He broke into tears and started sobbing uncontrollably into his hands. All of us gods looked at each other in shock and confusion.

I walked up to Percy and put an arm on his shoulder, much to the astonishment of the other gods.

"Percy?," I repeated, "What's wrong?" Even I was a little surprised by the soft tone of my voice.

He looked up at me and I saw just how sad he looked. It was not unlike the look he had in the throne room after the war at the reward ceremony for the demigods.

"When I was unconscious from the poison, Apollyon showed up in my dream,"He said, and I stiffened,"But it wasn't like any other dream I had ever experienced. It was so real, and I could feel everything around me. I woke up in a battlefield and everybody that I knew was lying there d-dead. Then _he_ showed up and told me that if I failed, then that was going to become reality. It hurt so much to see you and the others look so lifeless."

His voice was no more than a whisper and only I could hear what he had said. To the other gods, it must have looked like I was just hugging him to comfort him.

"Shhh... It's ok, Percy. You're not going to fail. We'll get that thing out of you and then we'll end Apollyon once and for all. You won't have to worry about what he showed you because it won't happen. I promise," I whispered back. I stroked the back of his head in an attempt to comfort him as best as I could. His tears soaked into my clothing and I could feel it on my shoulder, but if it was for Percy, I didn't mind it one bit. I decided to try something. I focused on our bond. _It will be fine, Percy._ I sent a flow of calming emotions to soothe him while speaking words into his mind.

Eventually, he calmed down and pulled out of the hug. I felt a little cold the moment we separated, but I pushed down the feeling. Those types of feelings wouldn't get me anywhere right now. Percy gave me a broken smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, but I could see a little bit of the usual flame in those sea green eyes. I could tell that my words had an effect on him.

When he was ready, we turned our attention back to the rest of the council who had a questioning and slightly pitying look in their eyes.

"Care to tell us what that was about, Daughter?" Asked Zeus.

"I think it is best that we don't. He has gone through much more than any other demigod has in just the time that he has been in Tartarus," I said.

"That is not what I meant. I know that he has been through much. I was talking about your little... intimate reaction to his pain."

I felt my face heating up a little and looked at Percy to see if he would answer. He still had a dazed look in his eyes, as if part of him was in the world of the living, while the other was Chaos knows where.

Seeing that he wouldn't answer, I said, "Over the course of our 'adventure', Percy and I have become close." I noticed Apollo and Zeus' eyes narrow slightly at my statement. _Just wait until they hear about our bond,_ I thought.

"You two better not do anything to Percy, or else you will feel my wrath," I threatened. I must have looked scary because they both gulped and their glares lessened slightly. Only a little.

Percy was too caught up in his own thoughts to even notice the hostility they were showing him. It didn't matter though, if they tried _anything_ , then I would be there to stand in their way. If anybody were to look into my thoughts, then they would probably faint in shock at the strength of my thoughts for a male. As much as I hated to admit it, Percy had become a part of my life that would be hard to live without. His outgoing attitude and infectious humor had made Tartarus so much easier to traverse. Granted, walking through Tartarus with anybody, no matter who was better than doing it alone. The sinister feeling still chilled my spine and crawled up my body whenever I thought about it.

I shook off the feeling as a voice pulled me back to the matter at hand.

"Well, I think we have discussed enough of this matter for now. I would definitely like to hear a more in-depth story, but from what I hear, we don't have that type of time. I think the best course of action would be to extract the object from Percy and then meet back here to confer on what we should do moving forward," Poseidon said. He sounded a little worried, probably because his son was going to undergo a procedure that would literally be ripping something out of his soul. To be honest, I was slightly worried as well.

"I think that a good idea," I said. I placed my hand on Percy's arm softly and waited for him to snap back to reality. He looked at me a little confused.

"Did you hear what your father suggested?" I asked and he nodded his head, "Well?"

"I think that's a good idea. I just want to get this stupid thing out of my body and then go say hello to my mom. She's probably worried sick about me," He said.

"Ok, We can start after Percy has a little more time to say hello to the gods he wants to, and then after, he can go and see his mother. Any objections?" Zeus said. The gods shook their heads, so he said, "Then the meeting is adjourned until the key is out of Percy's body."

He and most of the rest of the gods gave us one more nod and flashed away to return to their duties. The few that remained were me, Hestia, Hera, Athena, Poseidon, and... Aphrodite. _Uh-oh, this can't be good._ Percy seemed to sense this as well and looked uneasily at Aphrodite.

Suddenly, she sprinted towards Percy and tackled him into a hug, kissing him right smack on the lips.

"Percy!" She squealed. Percy let out a muffled yell and tried to fight against her grip, but she had godly strength on her side and held him in the kiss for a couple of seconds before I reacted and charged Aphrodite and shoving her off Percy. Rage and jealousy boiled through my body, so much so that I could barely see straight, let alone think straight.

I ran at Aphrodite and started attacking her with my fists, hitting her in any place that I could. I was about to punch her again when Percy got up and wrapped his arms around me to stop me.

"Let me go!" I yelled, struggling to break out of his grip. I could have used my godly strength, but I didn't want to hurt him.

"Artemis, calm down, it's not that big of a deal. Just let her go and pretend it didn't happen," He said, then whispered in a ton so soft that she had to strain to hear it,"I know you're jealous, which is perfectly understandable, but just know that with this bond, then I can never stray with another woman."

Upon hearing this, I blushed furiously, and I barely managed to conceal it from the others. I didn't even try to deny the fact that I was jealous, because I knew that he could feel it through the bond. I was still new to this relationship and I had never actually jealousy before, but I definitely didn't like the feeling. It felt like my entire body was burning, which was not a pleasant sensation.

"You better get out of here, before I release Artemis on you," Percy addressed Aphrodite. She gained a terrified look before promptly disappearing in a puff of pink perfume. There was silence after that, before a soft laughter broke through it.

"Well, now that that's over with, I think we have a little more to catch up on," Hera said, still chuckling a little. Percy and I awkwardly separated and much to the other gods' amusement, we both had red faces.

"So would you like to tell us of this recent development?" Hestia teased.

Our faces turned even redder and Percy mumbled something under his breath.

'What was that, Percy?" Asked Athena with mirth in her voice.

"Nothing!" He said a little too hastily.

"Cmon, Perce, we know you're hiding something from us. What is it?" Asked Poseidon.

All four gods were looking at us and trying not to laugh at the looks on our faces. I had a feeling that they knew something about this, but were just teasing us for the sake of it. I heard a masculine voice in my head.

 _Do we tell them?_ Percy asked in my head.

 _If we're going to tell anybody, then why not start with them,_ I replied.

We tuned back to the current conversation and looked into the other gods' questioning gazes.

"You see, when Percy was stabbed by Nico's blade, we left out the detail that the sword was actually poisioned by Nightshade. Percy went into a coma like state and Nyx told me that the only way he could be saved was to give him a piece of my godly essence to neutralize the effects of the poison. I did what I needed to, but apparently, because I gave my godly essence him willingly, then it has now created a soul bond between us that allows us to communicate with each other and feeling the other's emotions and sometimes thoughts," I explained.

The gods were shocked at this, but Athena being Athena, sensed that there was something more.

"There is something that you're not telling us. A big detail that you left out."

"Oh, uh... I might sorta develop romantic feelings for each other over time?" Percy almost squeaked out. The gods stood with their jaws on the ground.

Suddenly, Hestia broke out of it and started laughing loudly, before the others joined in, almost rolling on the floor in laughter. Percy and I looked at each other in confusion. When they had finally stopped laughing, Athena turned to Percy.

"Of course you would somehow managed to enter a relationship with the man hating maiden goddess. Normal was never good enough for you, little brother," She said, still laughing a little.

Percy blushed a little, before saying,"I think we should get this procedure thing over with. No point in dragging it out."

"Ok, but we're going to have a long chat about treating your lady correctly, young man," Hera said, hugging Percy one last time before flashing out. The other gods and I smirked at the look on Percy's face. The rest of the other gods gave Percy a last hug as well, before flashing away one by one, leaving Percy and I together in the throne room.

"That went a little better than I thought it would," Percy said.

"Yeah, I expected Poseidon to blow up on me," I said.

"Now that that's over with, I think it's time we pay Apollo a visit. I don't really want to have to wait too long to get this _thing_ out of my body."

I smiled lightly at him before taking his hand and flashing us to Apollo's palace.

(Line Break)

The procedure took almost two and a half ours, but all went well, so Percy was not in any pain during the process. Apollo had sent me outside so that he could work without any distractions, so I spent the entire time pacing outside the door to the room, waiting for the final results. I had been worried sick about him and had hope that nothing would go wrong.

Finally, when Apollo had finished with Percy, Percy had emerged from the room and I had run to him and checked him over for any injuries. He had just laughed me off and told me that he was fine. I could sense through the bond that he was telling the truth, so I let it slide and asked him about it. He pretty much just said that all he saw was black for two and a half hours.

Apollo emerged from the room, taking off his gloves and throwing them in the trash.

"That wasn't as hard as I expected," He said.

"Thanks, Apollo, not sure what would have happened if you hadn't pulled this out of me. Apollyon would probably just kill me and rip it from my soul," Percy said.

"Hey, no problem, Man! If you ever want me to hook you up with some ladies, feel free to stop by!" He said cheerfully. I felt a rush of protectiveness rush through me and Percy must have felt it through the bond.

"Er, I think I'll be fine for now. I don't need to be hooked up with any ladies at the moment," He said and I glared at him,"Or ever."

"Just saying," Apollo said.

"Apollo! I will not tolerate you tainting the only decent male left on Earth!" I shouted at him. He raised his hands in surrender and muttered something about evil woman under his breath. I gave him one last glare before turning back to Percy.

"Let's go back to the throne room so we can figure out what to do next. Hopefully, Nyx's wards will hold until we can decide on something," I said. The mood turned somber as I mentioned Nyx. Both Percy and I had a new found respect for the primordial and we both knew that she was possibly suffering at the hands of our enemy. _I promise you, Nyx. That we will do whatever it takes to save you,_ I vowed.

I flashed Percy and I to the throne room and walked over to my throne. I felt the rush of power that I had sorely missed down in Tartarus. It felt good to be home, if only for a couple days.

The gods seemed to sense our presence in the throne room and flashed in. Poseidon looked around, most likely for his son and saw him in the middle of the throne room. A wide smile broke out across his face.

"Son! I'm glad you're alright. How are you feeling?" He asked.

Percy shrugged,"I feel fine, just a little empty, but Nyx said that it was to be expected."

Poseidon looked happy to hear that his son would not be the carrier of the most lethal object ever created anymore.

Zeus spoke up with authority in his voice,"Nephew, we are all glad that you are fine, but there are pressing matters at hand that must be discussed. Tell me, what do you think is the best course of action?"

Percy thought about it for a couple seconds before replying,"I don't think that it's worth it to build up forces to defeat him because no matter how strong our army is, it would be almost hopeless to battle against him. The only way that we even have a shot at this, is to somehow activate this key when he nears to send him back to the Void. Otherwise, I don't see another way."

Athena had a thoughtful look in her eyes,"And how do we activate it? The most powerful object in the universe doesn't just come with an instruction manual."

"There has to be some forgotten scroll or book that will tell us something about it. We just have to find it and hope that there is information in there about how to activate it," I piped in,"Now where is this key. Apollo?"

All eyes turned to Apollo as he fumbled around in his pocket for something.

"Ah-ha!" He yelled triumphantly as he pulled something out. He was holding a small paper back with something glowing inside. Slowly, he pulled it out and held it in his hand gingerly. The item in his palm was a cube (Think of the tesseract, from marvel), glowing with so much power that it felt as if the entire universe had been compacted into that one small thing.

"Wow... So much power," Hestia said. I had never seen my aunt at a loss for words before, but this was the closest that it came. Her jaw was so wide open that I could have stuffed an elephant down her throat. Not that I would. I love my aunt.

Many of the gods had a greedy look on their face, unlike Hestia who just looked awed, and I knew that they were thinking about what would happen if they took this power for themselves. Stupid power hungry males. At least Percy wasn't like that. If he was offered even a quarter as much power as this, then he would never accept it.

"Oh stop it! Control yourselves!" I yelled at them, scowling. They all seemed to realize what they had been contemplating and their eyes cast downwards in shame.

"Now, back to what I was saying, we need to have every single person that we can spare searching the forgotten sections of the library for anything on this. We should probably start as soon as possible," I said and Athena hummed in agreement.

"That is a good plan for now. Hopefully, those wards will hold, else we're screwed," She said.

The gods nodded, before sitting in silence once again, nobody speaking a word. I soon grew tired of it.

"Well? What the hell are you waiting for?! Get your asses of those thrones and start searching!" I yelled as fiercely as I could.

And let's just say, I didn't know that it was scientifically possible to move faster than the speed of light.

(End of Chapter 20)

GhostChilli666: Thank you! I have already talked to you about your story, so there's not too much to say anymore. I hope you keep reviewing every chapter. I really love reading your complements and feedback!

L3: Remember that Percy's fatal flaw is loyalty. The moment that he feels he has done something to get his friends killed, all the blame starts piling up on his shoulders. The gods cannot sense where Percy is because Athena and Poseidon have been helping him stay hidden.

SPQR-Alan: Nyx is not dead yet. Maybe she will die, maybe she won't. You're just going to have to read and find out. ;)

Chimera629: Ok, I don't even know where to start. I'm just going to answer a few of the questions that I think are the most relevant to my story.

Why doesn't Artemis recruit more hunters?  
A: Artemis was extremely saddened by the death of her hunters. She loved them dearly and it would be hard for her to recruit more without constantly thinking back to the original hunters. Do you really think it would be that easy to replace so many people that you love? Not trying to mean, just saying.

Why don't the survivors teach the new kids?  
A: Well, first of all, there are barely any survivors. And second of all, the war has affected everyone deeply. It wouldn't be easy to just start training again and go on as it had never happened when only a fraction of the camp is gone.

How has Percy grown in terms of skills on his two year break from society?  
A: Not much really. His main intent on straying from the gods and Olympus was to distance himself from the others and to mourn for the death of everyone that he lived. He didn't grown in power so much as maintain his current level of power. Like I have said in the past, I want this story to be realistic and not have Percy kicking ass every time he faces an enemy.

Well, I think I have answered a some of your questions and I hope that you are satisfied with my answers. If you really want answers to all your other questions, then you're going to have to p.m me.

the guy that loves all gunpla: I'm glad you like it!

Wulfkin17: I'm glad you think so. It's one of my main goals for this story. Realisticness.

 **A.N: I'm so sorry for the boring chapter this week. I just had to put in all the reactions of the gods when he came home, otherwise it would seem like I am missing out on details. Next chapter will be him going to see his mother and Ashley and probably some action as well.**


	21. Chapter 21

**A.N: So, for the poll, the first choice won. I will be using this in my story but altering it slightly. Don't worry, it will have the same concept, just different "ingredients" to activate the key to make it a little more interesting and realistic.**

Percy POV:

Over the next couple hours, the gods worked their butts off trying to find something, anything, on Apollyon and how to activate this key. I had to admit, it was a little funny watching them scramble around the library looking for books. I had never expected to see Zeus so interested as he flipped his way through an old book that looked worn on the cover.

Athena and Hestia were by far the most into it. Athena, probably because she loved finding new books to read, and Hestia because she was extremely determined to do anything she could to help our chances of success, no matter how small it was. Both had been working at a furious pace, skimming through book after book without any sign of stopping.

I was sitting at a desk in the library with large stacks of books surrounding me like mountains. It was almost daunting how many books there were. So far, nobody had found anything, but we had only gone through less than a quarter of the books in this library.

The library we were in was the biggest and most ancient one ever created. There were numerous books dating back to the beginning of the Primordials and many of them were written in a language that I couldn't understand. Luckily, Athena came to the rescue there. The library had apparently been sealed off many years ago by the gods in fear that somebody would find something written there that would give them immense power. Enough power to overthrow them. Athena had reopened it but had warned us not to even think about stealing a single book from the selection.

Artemis sat beside me, humming merely. She didn't seem to mind sitting here for so long, but I was becoming restless. My ADHD must have been kicking in because I couldn't seem to sit still for more than ten seconds.

I soon grew tired of it and stood up abruptly. Artemis looked up at me questioningly with her eyebrow raised.

"Sorry, I just need to get up and move around a bit. I was thinking that I would go an see my mom and Ashley. I haven't talked to them since I got back and I miss them quite a bit. Want to come with me? We'll get straight back to work once we're done," I whispered to her as to not distract the other gods.

She looked at me skeptically before sighing, "I guess we can do that. It's been getting a little agitating when you shift around every couple seconds. Frankly, I was ready to hit you upside the head."

"Great! Let's go!" I said a little too enthusiastically. I got smacked upside the head anyways.

* * *

Artemis had flashed us both to the front door of my mother's house.

"Well, here we are. I hope they're not too mad at me for not coming to see them," I said a little nervously. Artemis seemed to notice my discomfort and placed her hand on my shoulder, instantly making me feel better.

"Don't worry. Even if they are angry, it will only be for a second before they're all over you with hugs and kisses," She said reassuringly. I smiled down at her and decided to make a bold move. I leaned down and pressed my lips lightly to her lips (I was contemplating cheek, but nah. PERTEMIS!). I felt her stiffen in surprise, but she didn't slap me, so that was a good sign. As I pulled my head back, noticed a slight red gracing her cheeks and I could tell that my own were a similar shade.

"Thanks for being there for me, Arty. I don't know what I would do without you." I hadn't been very comfortable being intimate with the maiden goddess, but this was a big step up for me. If she accepted this, then our relationship would definitely be moving in the right direction. I was a little bit bummed that I wouldn't be able to choose the person that I loved, but I knew that we could make this work. There was also the impending problem of revealing this to everyone. _Shit_

"You do not need to thank me. If it weren't for you, then I wouldn't be here either, Seaweed Brain," She said, her cheeks still flaming, before stiffening and looking at me warily. I knew that she was expecting me to react to the nickname, but I didn't so much as flinch. Only a sad look came into my eyes for only a second, but it disappeared when I realized who still had their hand on my shoulder.

Although Annabeth would always have a special place in my heart, the original place that she had been in was being filled by a certain someone standing in front of me.

"Don't worry, I'm over her death by now, just a little bit saddened when I hear her name, but otherwise I'm fine," I reassured her.

She gave me one last worried glance before nodding her head and turning back to the door, motioning for me to knock, grabbing my hand and squeezing. She sent soothing feelings through our bond and instantly I felt a lot better. I slowly raised my hand and tapped my knuckles on the door. I heard footsteps pounding to the door and I took a deep breath before the door swung open.

My mom stood there in all her glory, dressed in a pair of jeans and a white blouse. Her face was haggard and tired, although she had done a good job covering it up with makeup. As she opened the door and peeked her head out, she looked at us warily. Suddenly, the look lifted from her face replaced by joy and happiness. Tears welled up in her eyes almost immediately and rushed out into the hallway to give me a bone-crushing hug, not even saying a word. I could smell the scent of blue cookies and lavender on her, a smell the I had become well accustomed to.

By now, tears had already begun pouring out of both our eyes and before long, we were sobbing into each other's shoulders. Artemis just stood back to give us space with a small smile on her face. She did not really know the feeling of coming home after not seeing her family for a long time, because for a god, no amount of time was a long time, but she was contented that she could see Percy finally, truly happy.

My mother and I separated from our embrace and looked at each other in the eyes. Finally, she spoke to me in a soft tone.

"I'm so glad you're back, Percy. When Paul and I found out where you were, I almost had a mental break down. I've been so worried about you. Oh, my baby!" She said, pulling me back into another embrace, which I gladly accepted.

"Hey, Mom. You didn't need to worry. You know me, I always come back to you. Plus, I had her to keep me alive," I said, gesturing to Artemis. My mother finally seemed to notice the other presence and turned to Artemis.

"And who might you be?" She asked, "I guess it doesn't matter if you helped keep my baby alive. I can never thank you enough!" She apparently did not sense the godly aura around Artemis, because she then dragged her into a hug to express her gratitude.

Artemis stood there slightly awkwardly with her hands flailing around and looked extremely relieved when my mom released her. I inwardly snickered at her uncomfortableness towards physical contact.

"Uh, My name is Artemis," She said, introducing herself.

My mom suddenly gasped and shot into a bow almost as quickly as I could eat a blue cookie, which was saying a lot.

"M-my Lady, I'm so sorry! I d-didn't know it was you!" She said with as much respect as she could manage to put into her voice.

Artemis just chuckled, "The mother of my bond mate does not need to bow to me." She took my hand again. I was really starting to like the feeling of her soft hand on my own. It gave me a warm feeling that spread throughout my entire body. I shuddered thinking about our few kisses. Even though we had only shared a couple, every single one of them had been enjoyed thoroughly by both parties and it made both of us feel like we were floating in heaven. _Focus, Percy._

I tuned back into the conversation just in time to see my mom freeze up.

"B-b-bond mate?" She squeaked out.

"Um... I think we should go inside before talking about this," I said.

She nodded, still a little dazed, leading them inside the house.

"Honey? Who is it?" Asked a voice. Paul walked out of the kitchen with little Ashley holding his hand, looking a little confused. He abruptly stopped and looked at me for a second. He let go of Ashley and ran at me, embracing me almost as tightly as my mother had.

"Percy! You're back! Wow, it's so good to see you!" Paul said. His reaction was considerably less emotional then my mother's had been, but that was to be expected. Paul had never been one who showed too much emotion to anybody except my mother.

"Yeah, you too, Paul," I said, letting go of him. I turned to the little girl standing near the kitchen entrance, looking up at me with tears in her eyes.

"Percy!" She screeched. She rushed forward and wrapped her body around my waist as tightly as she could, tears falling down her face as she sobbed into my shirt. I smiled gently, kneeling down to meet her at eye level as I pulled her away from my body slightly.

"Your big brother is back, Ashley. I hope you haven't been too much trouble for my mother," I said chuckling. She cried even harder and buried her head into my shoulder. I looked over her small body at Artemis, who was currently smirking at me with a warm twinkle in her eyes. I gave her a grin worthy of Apollo's praise and watched as her face reddened a little. I just shook my head lightly at her reaction.

My true family surrounded me as I hugged my favorite little sister. Everything was as it should have been, even if just for a day or two. _It's good to be home._

* * *

Artemis and I spent the next hour at my mother's apartment recounting every little detail about our vacation to Tartarus. My mother all but fainted about ten times throughout the entire story. She had frozen for about five minutes after we got to the part about the key inside my body. Luckily, she seemed fine with the fact that Artemis and I were in a soul bond and the only thing she really did was act a little shocked. I was pretty surprised with her reaction but was glad that I didn't have to explain to her in too much detail, as that would have made for a pretty embarrassing story.

Ashley had sat in my lap the entire time, listening to me retell the story alongside Artemis. Ashley really adored the goddess of the moon and ever since Artemis had taught her how to use a bow and arrow, she had been extremely friendly with the goddess, to say the least. Ashley had interjected ever five seconds asking for more detail on a specific part. The story should have really only taken about fifteen minutes to explain, but I had ended up repeating more than half of it three times.

Artemis and I had already said our goodbyes and had been preparing to leave my mother's house, but as we were about to walk out the door, Ashley had come barreling into me, begging to come along with us.

"I'm sorry, Ashley. We are doing something that cannot be revealed to you. I swear that I will take you to get ice cream when everything is over, alright?"

That was enough for Ashley and she nodded enthusiastically at the thought of ice cream.

I laughed and mist traveled the two of us into the library where we were greeted with the sight of the gods jumping around in joy.

Artemis looked at me with a confused face, one that was reciprocated on my own, before shouting at the top of her lungs, "What the hell are you doing?!" Man, I knew she could be scary, but not _this_ scary.

The effect was immediate and every single one of the gods stopped what they were doing an looked over to see the three of us standing there.

Finally, Zeus broke the silence, "Artemis! You're going to like what we found!"

"And what might that be?"

"While I was looking through a book written in a runic alphabet, I noticed a picture of something that looked exactly like the key we have. It was a depiction of a tree trunk and many golden orbs lying around it on the ground. This key is an extremely powerful object, powerful enough to destroy all of the Olympian council, I daresay. It would take something almost or even as powerful as it to activate it and send Apollyon to the Void. I believe that this power lies in the trunk of the tree of the golden apples, guarded by Ladon himself," Athena explained.

Artemis and I gasped softly. The tree of the golden apples was protected fiercely by the Hesperides and it would be almost impossible to steal an apple, let alone the entire tree.

"Are you sure about this? I'm not trying to say that you are lying, but if you have misinterpreted the meaning of this picture, then there will be dire consequences," Artemis asked.

"Yes, sister, I am almost certain that this is what we need to do. Based on the runes that are inscribed within the pages of the book, I was able to interpret some of it. The Primordials needed something very strong to hold the power to activate this key. They did complete the key, but they wanted to wait until the right time to use it because if they had used it too early, then it could disrupt the balance of the entire universe from its power. They created the tree of the golden apples and infused a piece of the key inside its bark, meaning that the moment the power is transferred from the bark to the key, it will complete the key and banish Apollyon to the Void. This may be our one shot and we don't have long to act upon it. In fact, I think it is best if we go right now, better safe than sorry."

Artemis and I looked uncertainly at each other. Was it really the best idea to go now?

 _What do you think, Percy?,_ Artemis' voice rang in my head.

I thought about it for a second before answering, _Honestly, I think we should just get this over with and activate this stupid key. I'm sick and tired of Apollyon and the sooner he's gone the better._

"I think this is the best idea," Artemis said, addressing the rest of the gods and making sure not to mention the fact that we both agreed on it. They still didn't know about our bond and I hoped that it stayed that way until all this crap was over with.

"Yes, I second that," I said.

"Then we will all flash there right now. Have your weapons ready because it might get ugly," Zeus said.

"No, I don't think we should all go. If you were the Hesperides, would you be more willing to help one or two unarmed people, or a whole group of powerful gods ready for a full out battle?" I said.

The gods seemed to rethink their decision.

"Fine, we will listen to what you have to say. What do you propose?" Asked Zeus.

"Artemis and I will go alone, without weapons. I think the fact that we both knew Zoe will help, especially because she was Artemis' lieutenant." I looked over at Artemis to gauge her reaction and saw a tint of sadness on her face. I knew that she was still attached to her former hunters and that she was still mourning for them, rightfully so. However, after a moment, any sorrow that I had originally seen was pushed out by a mask of hard determination.

"What? You can't hope to accomplish this with only two people!" Ares cried.

"Hey Ares, not everything is about fighting and war. Sometimes if you actually talk to someone, then you can get what you want," I said, putting my arm around Artemis' waist and mist traveling us to the Garden of the Hesperides. Before we disappeared, I made sure to drop all my weapons on the floor, Artemis doing to same.

We appeared in a clearing with trees surrounding us, but I could sense the power coming from the area around us. I removed my arm from around Artemis' waist but slid my hand down her arm until it reached her own hand, slipping it inside with a comforting squeeze. I was about to start walking in the direction where I thought the tree was, but suddenly, six women walked out of the trees around us, forming a hexagon. They each brandished a spear, the tips dripping in some liquid that hissed when it dripped to the ground.

I drew Artemis behind me and dropped into a defensive stance. We didn't have our weapons, but nevertheless, I wouldn't go down without a fight.

"What is a little demigod and a goddess doing in the Garden of the Hesperides?" Said one, who I assumed was the leader, in a mocking tone.

"My name is Percy Jackson an-," I said before I was cut off the same Hesperide.

"I know who you are, Perseus Jackson. But I asked you what you are doing here," She growled.

"We swear on the Styx that we come in peace. We have no ill intentions towards you, "Artemis said. The Hesperides seemed to relax and this, but still held onto their spears as if they were worried that we would go back on our word.

"There is something extremely important that we must explain to you, before we say anything about why we are here," Artemis continued. The lead Hesperide looked at us suspiciously but nodded for her to continue.

"You see, there was a being stronger than every single immortal. He is powerful enough to wipe all life on planet earth and maybe even alter the entire universe. His name is Apollyon. You are probably all thinking why you haven't heard about him before, but this is because Apollyon was created at the time of the original Primordials. Every single immortal being had to fight against him and almost every single one of them died in the battle. They managed to contain him within the Void, the only place that would keep him trapped for any period of time. They made sure not to have any information on him released because they did not want any chance of somebody freeing him. They created a key that would strengthen his prison to the point where he would never be able to break free, but this key was not activated by the time the primordials had faded," Artemis said.

The Hesperides guffawed at this.

"You expect us to believe this?" Asked one of them.

"I swear on the Styx that everything we have said so far and will say in this conversation is the truth," Artemis said. The Hesperides immediately stopped laughing and became serious.

"Please go on," Said the leader, who now had a new interest in what Artemis was saying.

"As I was saying, The Primordials created a key to trap him in the Void forever, but it wasn't finished. We have recently discovered that Apollyon has, in fact, escaped his prison, something that the Primordials had expected, but not for much longer than it has been since they trapped him. He visited me in my dreams and told us that we have two months of peace before he would attack. Percy and I were down in Tartarus to recover this key as it's the only way to stop Apollyon. Long story short, we have the key, but we didn't know how to activate it. Up until about twenty minutes ago," Artemis said.

The Hesperides all looked skeptical, but a few actually looked a little bit scared.

"So you're telling us an omnipotent being from the time of the Primordials has escaped his eternal prison and is now coming to destroy the world," One of the Hesperides said skeptically.

"That is exactly what we are saying," I said.

"And say this is actually happening, you said that you figured out how to activate this key, so how do you activate it? And how do we come into play in all this," Asked the leader.

"First of all, it is happening because we swore on the Styx and we were not struck down. Second of all, this concerns you because there is something extremely important that you must consent to. Otherwise, our world or even universe is doomed," Artemis said.

The Hesperides gestured for her to continue.

"In one of our ancient books, we found a picture of the key next to a tree trunk with golden orbs on the ground surrounding it...," Artemis said, trailing off. The Hesperides looked confused, but the leader got what it meant right away.

"No! Absolutely not! I should strike you both down right now for even asking such a thing from us!" She roared. I sighed. This was the expected reaction that I had anticipated.

"Please, this is the only way we can even have a chance against Apollyon. If you don't let us take it, then it will not matter, for it will be destroyed in his reign on Earth," Artemis pleaded.

"I will not allow you to uproot the most sacred thing here. If you wish to take the tree of the golden apples, then you will find better luck fighting this so-called Apollyon with your bare hands," She said dismissively.

The Hesperides, now knowing what we were asking from them, closed in on us snarling.

"You are foolish to come here and ask for something like this!," One of the growled

"Kill them," The leader ordered before walking back towards the treeline. The Hesperides hefted their spears once more and began circling us, getting closer and closer with each step they took.

"Please! You do not understand the importance of this," Artemis yelled frantically. The leader didn't so much as pause and kept walking. I looked around and saw that the Hesperides had almost feral looks on their faces as they slowly raised their spears towards our chests, ready to thrust it into our hearts and kill us instantly. I felt Artemis' back pressed against mine and grabbed her hand tightly. If we were going to die here, then we were going to die together.

I started to become desperate when an idea popped into my head.

"Do it for Zoe!"

Every single Hesperides stiffened when I shouted her name. The lead Hesperide wheeled around and stalked towards me, seething with rage.

"What did you say?!"

"I said, do it for Zoe," I repeated softly. Zoe Nightshade had been one of the bravest and smartest people that I had ever had the honor to know. Her death was one of the many that I had blamed myself for in the past and in a way, I still did. I felt immensely guilty for using her name to persuade the Hesperides, but it seemed like that was our only chance.

"How do you know Zoe?" The lead Hesperide barked.

"She was one of my hunters, but she sadly died while fighting your father Atlas," Artemis said mournfully. The Hesperides stumbled back in shock.

"Zoe is dead?" whispered one to my right disbelief clear in her voice.

"I'm sorry. Your sister died bravely and fought well. She had a death worthy of a hero. She _was_ a hero," I said.

"Tell me. How did this happen? We all loved our sister dearly and were sad when she was exiled, but there was nothing we could do," The leader said with sorrow. The Hesperides all nodded in agreement.

And so we did. Everything that Artemis and I could remember about Zoe came spilling out of our mouths and we told them of the quest that would eventually result in the death of their sister. The whole time, the Hesperides listened without interrupting, as they had to much respect for their fallen sister to do so, respect that was growing more and more with every word that they heard. By the end of the story, they had completely shed their facades of indifference and were openly crying, tears flowing down each of their cheeks.

Finally, the leader seemed to come to a decision.

"You have sworn on the Styx that everything you said is true and I am in no position to question the Styx. Based on your story, I can tell that you are a very honorable and selfless boy. If Zoe was ok with being friends with you, then you must be an exceptional person. And you," She said, turning to Artemis," were one of the closest people to our sister. You helped her get over the pain of the exile. I thank you for that."

We both nodded.

"I will consent to your request on the condition that when you seal that being in the Void, you bring it back if it is possible, as we have the power to regrow it as long as it stays intact."

"You cannot possibly be allowing them to uproot our sacred tree!" Yelled a Hesperide, "Even after they told us about Zoe."

"Erytheis, as they said, if we do not give it to them, then it will be destroyed anyway."

The Hesperides looked like they wanted to argue, but they couldn't argue with the logic.

"Thank you so much, ...," I said pausing.

"It's Khrysothemis."

"Thank you so much, Khrysothemis. We will try our best to bring the tree back so you can regrow it. I am not like Hercules and I won't cheat you like he did Zoe," I assured them. Artemis nodded along with my statement.

"I can already sense that, young one," Said Khrysothemis. She led us through the forest until we entered a beautiful garden with fountains and flower beds laying scattered in intricate patterns and designs. What caught my eye was the tree in the middle of the garden with many coils of rope around the base of it. Suddenly, the rope started to move until I could make out a sleek body and many many heads. I realized that this wasn't rope at all. It was Ladon. Instinctively, I backed away a little, but I felt Artemis place a hand on my arm to stop me. I could feel her own fear through the bond, but it was mixed with confidence as well.

Khrysothemis strolled towards Ladon, who brought his heads closer to hear with a snort from each. She raised her hand and rubbed the many heads of Ladon, whispering in an ancient language to him. She carefully unwound his body from around the tree and continued whispering to the dragon who started to look tired. Soon, the dragon could barely stand and its legs gave way as it fell into a deep slumber. Khrysothemis brought out a sword from a sheath on her side and in one clean cut, slashed through the trunk of the tree of the golden apples. It slowly fell to the ground, but she caught it before it could make any sort of noise that might wake Ladon.

Khrysothemis dragged the tree over to where we were standing. She made a weird motion with her hand and started chanting out loud. I was about to ask her what she was doing when the tree suddenly shrunk down to the size of a miniature figure that could be kept in one's pocket.

"Here is the tree. Now go back to Olympus and banish Apollyon so we can have it back," Khrysothemis.

"Thank you again, Khrysothemis," Artemis said, "We wouldn't be able to do this without your help."

Khrysothemis nodded at us in acknowledgment, "You are welcome. Just do not abuse the power of this tree or the apples it holds. I trust that you will so to it though."

We bowed one last time at the Hesperides, some of which were still looking at us with disdain, and grabbed Artemis' hand, mist traveling us back to Olympus.

We appeared back in the throne room of Olympus and saw that the gods were already seated there with anxious. When they saw us, their faces lit up.

"Did you get it?" Asked my father excitedly. Artemis and I grinned at him as I brought the miniature tree of the golden apples out of my pocket. The gods looked at it with awe.

"Well? How do we activate this stupid thing? Let's do it quickly so we can get this whole problem off our hands," Apollo said, holding up the glowing cube.

"If the book was correct, then all we need to do is transfer the power inside the bark to the key and then it should work," Athena said.

"Then what are we waiting for? I want to party!" Yelled Dionysus enthusiastically. The gods chuckled at his cheerfulness, but couldn't keep their own excitement at bay. Once we got this over with, then they didn't have to worry about an all-powerful being threatening to overthrow their rule! How great was that?

I gave the tree to Artemis who flashed to her throne and handed it to Zeus.

"The transfer should be pretty easy. We'll just need a lot of power because this thing has _way_ more power than any one of us," Athena said. She snapped her fingers and the key and the tree (heh, it rhymes) floated towards the center of the room so that they were almost touching.

"Now for the hard part," she said. The gods all focused their power on the two objects and I watched as they slowly merged together. But just as they were about to make contact, an explosion blasted throughout the throne room, obliterating the walls and throwing everybody backward.

I looked around, my ears ringing, and my eyes set on a figure walking towards us, cloaked in shadows. I jerked back as I realized who it was.

"Did you really think that those wards would hold me away. I just had to snap my fingers and they disappeared," Apollyon said with a sick grin on his face. _No no no, this can't be happening._

"Now, where is that key...," He said. His eyes set on the cube in the center of the room. His tongue flicked out of his mouth and licked his lips a snake would.

"Ah, yes. The only object capable of holding me captive for eternity is now mine. That mere tree will not save you now. You're only hope would be for your little hero to run in and save your sorry asses, but I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen."

He casually walked towards me and I scrambled away. I would never admit it, but I was scared enough that I almost thought I would wet my pants. He stopped right in front of me and smiled as he saw me crawling to get away from him. I felt him grab onto the back of my shirt and spin me around to face the gods.

"Yes, he won't be there to save you anymore," He said addressing the gods. They had terrified expressions on their faces and Artemis looked like she was ready to charge down towards Apollyon in a feeble attempt to free me.

 _Do not, my love_. _Do not risk your life for me._

She looked at me in despair but saw the conviction in my eyes. She seemed to make up her mind and charge Apollyon, knives out. I looked sadly at her and the last thing I saw before we disappeared was her beautiful face filled with desperation and anguish.

(End of Chapter 21)

*I'm sorry, I won't be responding to the reviews that told me which option they preferred. If you want me to respond to one of your reviews, then you can leave a real one and I will be sure to write back!

Gohanfan123: I did have a plan for that and it wouldn't have been all the gods that had to give up their immortality. If the other option had won, then I would have had Artemis give up her immortality as most of you probably would have guessed already.

Guest: I know that there is a cure for nightshade, but I did not really want to come up with a new plant, so I just used nightshade.

ghostchilli666 #1: I'm glad that you thought it wasn't boring. And thank you for the compliment. I'm not sure if I would be able to continue this story without people like you giving me inspiration.

ghostchilli666 #2: Yeah, that's actually what I would have preferred, but I knew that my viewers would have wanted a happy ending so...

Guest #2: That is actually a really good idea, but I don't really want to write her losing her maidenhood. Otherwise, I definitely would have considered that idea.

Guest #3: Really, that's super cool. I wish I could move faster than the speed of light. I was actually leaning towards the second option because I wanted a sort of sad ending xD

MasterTrident: Yeah... I should have expected that when I put out the poll, huh.

 **A.N: Phew! That was a long chapter! I hope that this isn't taking the Pertemis too fast. I know I say that too much, but I'm just paranoid that Artemis is accepting this too quickly. I don't know, I'm probably harping on this way too much. I also feel like the writing in this chapter is quite crude compared to many of the others because I wasn't really sure how to word some of the things.** **Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I tried to add a little bit of action in it to make it more interesting than the last one. A bit of a snooze fest if you ask me xD.**

 **P.S: Thanks to everybody who responded to my poll so quickly after I posted it. I really appreciate it and I hope that in future chapters I can incorporate more of your decisions into the story. I'll try to add another part that you guys can vote on. Maybe a proposal, who knows... ;)**


	22. Chapter 23

(Beginning is just a repeat of the last chapter except in Artemis' POV)

Artemis POV:

I was so relieved when Percy and I flashed back into the throne room. We were just one step away from ending this. The gods greeted us with excited smiles and I could tell that they were thinking the exact same thing I was at the moment.

"Did you get it?" Asked Poseidon said excitedly. Percy and I grinned at him and Percy drew the tree from his pocket. Every single god in the room could tell that there was immense power hidden in the miniature sized tree that was currently sitting in Percy's outstretched hand. Their eyes widened comically, but soon, they were almost jumping for joy. I had never seen the Council look so lively in all my immortal life.

"Well? How do we activate this stupid thing? Let's do it quickly so we can get this whole problem off our hands," Apollo said as he held up the blue glowing cube.

"If the book was correct, then all we need to do is transfer the power inside the bark to the key and then it should work," Athena said.

"Then what are we waiting for? I want to party!" Yelled Dionysus enthusiastically. The gods chuckled at his cheerfulness, but couldn't keep their own excitement at bay. I had to admit, even I was in the mood to 'party', as Dionysus put it, something which I had not done for a very very long time.

Percy gave the tree to me and I flashed up to my throne.

"The transfer should be pretty easy. We'll just need a lot of power because this thing has _way_ more power than any one of us," Athena said. She snapped her fingers and the key and the tree seemed to levitate, gravitating towards each other in the center of the room.

"Now for the hard part," she said. All of us gods focused our entire beings on this one task, for if we failed, then we would have no beings at all. The two objects moved closer and closer together. I could almost see the power flowing through each, fitting together like two pieces of a puzzle. But just as they were about to make contact, an explosion blasted throughout the throne room, obliterating the walls and throwing everybody backward.

I sat up in my throne, groaning and glancing warily around the room for the source of the explosion. My eyes settled on a single figure in the middle of the room, and I had to squint to see who it was. _NO! It can't be him!_

"Did you really think that those wards would hold me away. I just had to snap my fingers and they disappeared," Apollyon said, his face twisted into a grotesque 'smile'. The shadows around him seemed to warp the lower half of his body and ended in wisps at his waist. He had a fearsome looking helmet atop his head with horns and bright eyes, burning with fire from hell itself. All the gods including me had a terrified look on their face. It was almost like our worst nightmares come true, except even worse.

"Now, where is that key...," He said. His eyes darted around the room, surveying everything and everyone around him. Finally, his black orbs settled on the glowing object in the middle of the room. He had an unmasked look of glee on his shrouded face.

"Ah, yes. The only object capable of holding me captive for eternity is now mine. That mere tree will not save you now. You're only hope would be for your little hero to run in and save your sorry asses, but I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen."

I watched helplessly as he stalked towards Percy. Percy had the most scared expression on his face that I had ever seen wear before. An unbridled fear of this mysterious abomination before him. Apollyon grabbed the back of Percy's shirt, holding him up as if he weighed less than a feather.

"Yes, he won't be there to save you anymore," He said addressing us. I desperately wanted to run down and stab that bastard in the gut so I could free Percy. Even if I died, then Percy would be free of his grasps. It would be worth it if I could give Percy even a couple more seconds of freedom.

I was just about to summon my knives when I heard a deep masculine voice in my head.

 _Do not, my love_. _Do not risk your life for me,_ Percy said sternly in my mind. I was too fixated on saving him that I hadn't even realized what he had referred to me as.

Despite what Percy had told me, there was no way that I would ever allow harm to come to him. He was my one lifeline. The single person that I had left. Without him, I was nothing. So I summoned my knives anyways and charged the creature in front of me in a hopeless attempt to free my hero, my savior, my love, but before I could even run ten steps, Apollyon smirked at me and gave me a wink, before vanishing along with Percy in a column of shadows.

I watched in horror as remanents of his shadow travel floated to the ground and dissolved into fine black dust. Almost immediately, I was hit with immense emotional pain, so intense that I couldn't even stand up straight. Once that first tear broke free, the rest followed in an unbroken stream. I dropped to my knees pressing my palms to the floor, as I began sobbing, shards of my broken soul flowing out of my eyes in the form of liquid.

The rest of the gods looked on in shock, many of them had tears in their own eyes as well, but it was nothing compared to what I was feeling at the moment. The outside world was fuzzy around me and I couldn't hear anything as I felt myself slipping into a state of depression and heartbreak. I was barely aware of the warmth of Hestia's embrace and the fiery droplets falling down her own face. It was like I was completely dysfunctional, already lost in the land of misery. More figures gathered at the edge of my vision, but I couldn't make any sense of who they were. Like I was floating a mile away from my body.

By now, the front of my shirt was completely soaked by my unrelenting tears, but it didn't make a single difference to me. I could have been in the center of a volcano, and I wouldn't feel the heat, for my tears would hold it at bay.

I faintly felt somebody pick me up and hold me close to their body, flashing me off somewhere. I felt them place me on a bed, pulling the covers over my head before walking away, out of my view. The lights were turned off around me, although it didn't matter because it was like the lights were out already. In my conscience.

I didn't know how long I lay there, but eventually, my body ran out of liquid to cry. I slowly let sleep overcome my sense and my consciousness ebbed, but not before I prayed to the higher being that Percy would come back to me safely. _Please, he is everything to me. Please, let him be alright and let him come back to me. I don't know what I would do without him._ And then my mind went into free fall, swirling with the beautiful chaos of a new dream. But this chaos was dark and murky, not beautiful in any way, shape, or form.

Dark faces shrouded my vision and obscured my view. Haunting images swirled past my line of sight before disappearing in the peripheral of my vision, only to be replaced by one even more disturbing and dreadful. My Hunters lying motionless on the ground with wounds on every inch of their bodies. My family bloodies and battered, at the brink of the endless abyss of the afterlife. A million ways that Percy could die.

Suddenly, everything disbursed like a flock of crows being chased by a hawk, only to be replaced by something even worse. Percy lay by my feet, blood coating his body like clothing. My eyes widened in horror as I tried to help him to his feet and hug him, but found that I couldn't. I was forced to watch him lie on the floor dying, all alone in the dark. I tried to call out to him, but nothing happened as I attempted to force my mouth to form words. It was like I was watching a movie, sitting in the back row of the theater. My body wanted desperately to cry out to the man on the screen, but of course, he wouldn't hear me.

Percy groaned and my face relaxed at the fact that he was still alive, but instantly, it went slack again, paling rapidly. Behind Percy, the door slid open creating an abrasive screeching noise as it inched open to reveal a dark figure cloaked in blackness.

Again, I tried to shout out to Percy, hoping beyond hope that he would hear me, but to no avail. I watched in dismay as the figure strode to Percy's limp body and pulled out an object that looked strangely like the key we had spent so much time trying to activate, only to have it stolen from our very grasp, along with our savior and my love. He roughly grabbed Percy by his hair and lifted his head. Percy didn't so much as flinch, as he seemed to be teetering on the edge of unconsciousness. He was immediately brought back though as the figure behind me pressed the object to Percy's bare back.

Percy's body jerked and he started spasming in pain, an agonizing scream escaping his lips. I could hear a hissing noise coming from under the glowing object pressed firmly against his back. The figure's lip curled back and I could tell that he was clearly enjoying his little torture session.

My eyes brimmed with tears and I felt my body shaking in pain. Not the physical pain the Percy was experiencing now, but emotional and mental pain. Just listening to his cry of pain made my chest burn and my heart shatter.

Suddenly, the figure seemed to sense my presence and looked up at me with a sick smile on his face, not worried about the blood on his hands or the screams coming from the man beneath him. And my vision went black, but Percy's howls were still echoing in my mind. It was not something that I would ever forget.

I abruptly sat up in my bed, gasping and, like countless times earlier that day, starting crying loudly.

* * *

Percy POV:

Apollyon transported me to a dark room that looked infested with rats. He shoved me to the ground in the room and sneered at me.

"What are you to do now? You have nobody to help you. This room is god proof and no powers will work in here. I think I will have some fun with you before I murder you just like I will your family," He snarled threateningly. I just glared up at him in defiance. I would not give in to his words, no matter how much fear it sent rushing through my body. Apollyon just smirked and turned around, walking to the door and pulling it open. Before he walked out, however, he turned back.

"You know, if you join me, then there will be no need for any of this. You could save yourself, your family, and your friends the pain of watching you die. If you join me, then you could save them all," He said calmly.

"I will never join you!" I screeched at him with as much conviction in my voice as I could manage.

"Well, just think about it," He said before walking out slamming the metal door behind him. I could hear the locks clicking and a heavy bolt sliding into place, obscuring my only means of escape.

I sighed. If I was going to be here a while, then at least I could try to get as comfortable as possible, though that was slightly hard considering I was in a dark room with no windows, no powers, and no communication to the outside world. I looked around the cell and noticed something chained to the wall next to me. I took a closer examination before jolting backward in shock. The skeleton of another unfortunate victim was shackled to the wall beside me, looking me straight in the face with its hollow eyes.

My body shuddered at the thought of becoming a skeleton on the wall of Apollyon's secret dungeon. The gods wouldn't know what happened to me, except the fact that I was dead. Artemis wouldn't know what happened to me. Right now, the person I cared about the most was Artemis. I hoped that she was not too devastated by the fact that I was captured. If I was to die right here, then I want her to be able to move on and have a happy life. I'm just one mortal and compared to the lifetime of a god, I was just a small pesky fly, a nuisance.

There was nothing I could do about it though, so I just rested my head against the wall and waited.

(Line break)

I didn't know how long I was slouched against the wall, next to the skeleton, before the door swung open again to reveal the imposing figure of Apollyon. When his eyes set on me, he grinned.

"I see you made yourself at home. I would enjoy your last couple of minutes of peace before we begin our little session," He said, malice dripping from his voice.

I snorted," I would hardly call this peace."

"Ha! Compared to what we are about to do to you, this is heaven. You will feel pain worse than you have ever experienced before until you are begging for death, but we won't give it to you. Now, shall we begin?"

His words made me slightly uneasy, but I resolved myself with steely determination. He had no idea what I had been through. There was no way that this torture could be worse than what I had gone through before. I could handle it.

"Try your worst."

Apollyon sneered at me, before beckoning behind him for somebody to come into the room. Another figure walked into the room and I immediately recognized him as Nico. Or at least, the body of Nico. His eyes were still black and he still had the chilling feeling attached to him. He glared at me with cold eyes harder than diamonds. I could tell that he wanted to hurt me. Badly.

"I will leave him to you," Apollyon said addressing Nico. Nico nodded and waited for Apollyon to walk out and slam the door behind him to move. He pulled out an object out of his pocket and instantly realized what it was. He held the key in his hand, glowing and pulsing with power.

"What are you going to do with that, huh?" I taunted him.

"The key is so powerful that no mortal being can even be in contact with it, or else it will cause immense pain and overload of power. The mortal could potentially die from too much exposure," He said calmly as if he was talking about which ingredients he liked in his blue cookies.

I could only stare as he strode towards me and shoved me onto my back. He tore away my shirt to reveal the bare skin, and jabbed the object so that it came in contact with the skin briefly. Even though he had only grazed that skin, it burned like a thousand hot nails jabbing their way into my skin, each with enough pain to make the Styx pale in comparison. I almost cried out, but I managed to keep it in. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of making me scream. He just smirked and slammed the entire face of the object onto my skin.

Agony seared through my very being and I could feel it latching onto my soul, slashing at it and causing me even more pain. It felt like my essence was being ripped free from my mortal vessel and torn up. It hurt almost as much as a stubbed toe or a jammed thumb. Despite my attempts to hold in my scream, I couldn't do anything but howl at the immense pain I was feeling. It felt like an eternity before it was suddenly lifted off my back and instant relief flooded through my body, but it was quickly overcome by more torture as the key was placed back on my skin.

What felt like hours was probably minutes or even seconds. Nico took the object off my skin and stepped back with a satisfied look on his face, but there was something else written on his features. It looked surprisingly close to regret and guilt, but I couldn't be sure.

"Is that the best you can do?" I gasped, still recovering.

"That was only about two seconds. Would you like me to stick it on your back so that it never comes off? In a matter of minutes, you would have already lost your insanity and I don't want that to happen before I have more fun with you."

As he said this, the regret shot to the front of his expression and superimposed the sickening smile on his face. Like last time, his eyes seemed to flicker before turning back to their original black, and I knew he was still in there. It gave me a sliver of hope that I might be able to get my little brother back. That I might be able to get myself out of this mess. I just wanted to see Arty one more time.

(End of Chapter 22)

the guy who loves all gunpla: Thank you! I'm glad your back and reading my story. I was starting to wonder where you had gone because you're usually one of the first ones to review my chapters. I hope you liked all the new content that I posted while you were gone. How did you like China? I haven't been there so I wouldn't know what anything is like over there. As for the poll, all you need to do is go to my profile page and at the top, it should say something like, "Poll! Vote now!" or something like that. If that doesn't work, then be sure to pm me and I can try to help you figure it out.

Wulfkin17: Thank you for that. I kind of needed it. I do realize that I do get a little worried about what you guys think and I should probably stop, but I can't really help it.

Sidaqlotay07: Thank you for that information. I searched it up and each site had different information, so I got lazy and just looked for greek names to assign to the Hesperides.

Guest: You should really create an account! I really like your idea and I'm sorry that I wasn't able to use it. I have to say that I haven't really read many PercyXPiper fics, but I'm sure they're as great as you say they are. I won't say what type of ending this story will have, so you'll just have to read and find out! Sorry, I'm such a tease.

 **A.N: Sorry for the short chapter this week, but I felt that this was a good place to end it. The next chapter will be one of the final ones and after that, I think it's just the epilogue or one or two more chapters before this story is complete! I have to say, I'm a little sad that this story is coming to an end, but not all is lost because I will definitely be writing another story afterward. I really hope that you guys have been enjoying this story and I hope that my first fanfic was not a complete disappointment xD.**

 **P.S (IMPORTANT): I still need a lot more votes on my poll, so please please please go to my profile page and take your pick on what you think the next pairing should be!**


	23. Chapter 24

**A.N: Before I start, I have wanted to say that I'm very sorry for the delay of this chapter. Life just caught up to me, and I guess I kind of just forgot to update. There's really no excuse.**

Percy POV:

The torture continued for Chaos knows how long. I had long lost track of time, but I had already become used to the schedule. I just waited for the door to creak open and the dark figure of Nico to walk in. He always wore the same expression of glee, but every time he walked in, I could tell that there was something lying beneath the mask that was on his face. Part of the real Nico.

My body ached all over and it was hard to move even an inch without it burning up. I couldn't even sit against the wall or else my back would feel like it was on fire, which frankly was not a pleasant sensation. The only things keeping me from giving up the fact that there may be a way to coax Nico into taking control of his body again. Every time he strode out of the room after a session, I could see a hint of remorse in his eyes and knew that there was something that I could do.

The second thing keeping me going was the very same person that took over my mind every time I closed my eyes. I could see her smiling at me and her beautiful eyes gleaming with happiness. There was no way that whatever Apollyon was planning for me would wipe the memories of Artemis from my mind. She was forever imprinted into my life, my very soul. You cannot simply force somebody to forget part of their own soul. _I will see you again, Arty. I promise._

As I thought these words, the door swung open again and I shivered in anticipation. I already knew what was happening, but this time, I had the will to fight against it. As Nico strode towards me, pulling the key out of his pocket, I stumbled to my feet and held my hands out in from of me in a pleading gesture.

"Do not do this. You can fight against her, I know you can!" I shouted at Nico, past the goddess controlling him and addressing the true being inside, the owner of this body. His face twisted into a sneer.

"Ha! Do you think he can hear you? Are you foolish enough to believe that a mere demigod can challenge the power of a god?" Peitho said from Nico's body.

"I'm not talking to you," I said calmly, "Please, Nico. I know you're in there. You can fight back, I know you can. Do this for me, your big brother. Just try, please!"

Peitho just sneered again, "You cannot do anything about it, you little brat. He will not hear you."

At this point, I was starting to get a little desperate," Nico! Is this really how you want this to go. Do you want to wake up in your body with everybody around you dead? Remember what it was like when Bianca died! Do you really want that for yourself again?" I felt guilty about bringing up his sister. I knew that he still mourned for her and he had still not gotten over her death.

Despite my feelings, my plan was effective and his eyes switched to brown again, but this time, it stayed that way for much longer than it usually did. I knew that I was reaching him inside. He could definitely hear me in there, and I was going to save my little bro. I wracked my brain for ideas.

"Hey, Death Breath! Come out and show me that you're strong enough to break a goddess' hold. You always used to say that you were strong, but are you really?" Nico had always been provoked easily, and if I could rile him up, then it might give him the strength to break free, even it may come with consequences when he did. He had never been one to tolerate being doubted.

His face darkened and I could see the rage on his face. He was getting there, I thought as I continued to jab him with my words.

"If you can't even fight a mere minor goddess, then how can you expect to be called strong. How can you expect anybody to respect you?"

This seemed to do the trick. His eyes were icy cold, but I shuddered at the fire burning beneath his icy orbs. A white-hot flame that threatened to incinerate me with just a glance. By now, his eyes were locked on a deep brown, as he regained control of his body. He glared at me.

"What did you say?!" He roared. I smiled sheepishly at him.

"Nice to have you back?"

"Nice to have me what? Wait, what just happened?" He asked completely confused. It seemed that he was not aware of what happened during the time that Peitho had taken over his body. Then I realized something. The moment that Peitho had been forced out of Nico's body, she would be alert Apollyon and most likely come running. We didn't have much time and if we were going to act, then we would need to do so quickly.

"Ok, Nico, I don't have any time to explain right now, but we really need to go. There is something that we need to find in this compound, but it must be done quickly, or else there will be no second chance."

"What do you mean? What are we trying to find? And what the hell is going on right now?"

"I told you that we don't have much time. I will explain it to you after, but first, let's start moving, he might be here any moment."

'Who?" He asked. I just ignored him, because I knew that any answer I gave him would only lead to more questions. I rushed out the still unlocked door with Nico close behind me, still very confused as to what was going on. I couldn't blame him, because I would be confused too, if I woke up in a dark room, standing next to your best friend with no recollection of anything that had happened for the past couple months.

I had no idea where I was going, and I was only guided by the slight pull in my gut, leading me to the key. I could still sense it because it had been part of me for the longest time, and my soul was still yearning for contact again. The sensation soon became a tug, that was so strong that it threatened to yank me to the ground.

At last, we reached a room with a closed door, but I was certain that this was the one. Nico padded up behind me and leaned on his knees to catch his breath.

'Geez, bro. What's gotten you so riled up?" He asked. I shushed him and motioned for him to stand behind me. There was no telling who or what was behind this door alongside the object that I was looking for. I tried to handle but found that it was firmly shut. I brought up my knee to my chest and smashed the door with my leg, breaking the lock in the process. The door swung open on its hinges and slammed against the wall with a loud _clank!_ I winced a little at the loud sound.

I surveyed the room and was shocked to find that it was empty, no sign of anybody around. I turned around and looked at Nico who seemed to be awed by something. A glowing object, floating in mid-air between two metal pillars was sitting in the middle of the room with lightning arcing around it.

"That is the most powerful object ever created," I told Nico. He looked at me skeptically.

"I knew you were stupid, Perce, but stupid enough to steal _this_? That's taking it to a new level!"

"Wow, thank you so much," I said sarcastically. I walked up to the middle of the room towards the two pillars. I could almost feel it reaching out to my soul and I knew that if I let it, then it would latch on like a leech, just like before, but I had no intentions of letting it do so. I did not need this _thing_ latched onto my body any longer than it had already been.

Just as I was about to reach it something emerged from the shadows to my right.

"Ah, I knew you would come. Once Peitho reported to me, all I had to do was come here and wait for you to walk right into my outstretched palm. You are so predictable, you know that?" Apollyon said, stepping away from the wall that he had been leaning on. !

"Percy? W-who i-is that?" Nico asked nervously. I ushered him behind me.

"Just stand behind me, you are in no condition to fight right now," I said.

Apollyon laughed uproariously, " Ha! And you think you're in any condition to fight? Even at your strongest, you couldn't hope to face me!"

I just glared at him, knowing that he was right. I wracked my brain for a plant that would get us out of here, but nothing came to mind. Suddenly, I thought about the one person who always knew how to get out of any situation. _C'mon. Think, Perce! What would Annabeth do in this situation?_

Then, I almost facepalmed. I could just mist travel out of here! I jumped back and grabbed Nico by his arm, mist traveling away. But instead of mist traveling, we face planted into the wall, sliding down like in a children's cartoon.

"Foolish, foolish demigod. Didn't I already tell you that godly powers were negated in this compound? Only a being as strong as a primordial could use any of their powers in here," Apollyon said, standing over us and observing us with glee clearly written on his face. He was enjoying this.

"You bastard! I don't know who you are, but let us go!" Shouted Nico.

"So you didn't tell him? Well, then I will have the honor of introducing myself then. My name is Apollyon, the strongest being in the entire being. Your little friend here has gone through a lot of trouble trying to defeat me, but you can see where that got him," He said, gesturing to me. I almost snarled, but I managed to hold myself back. It would do no good do anger him. We were already at his mercy.

Before Nico could even reply, a flash of black light erupted from the center of the room. A woman in a cloak appeared with a hood over her eyes. I caught my breath. Was this the goddess Peitho, finally making an appearance? I knew that she was a loyal servant of Apollyon, so it would seem likely that she might flash in at any moment.

Apollyon turned around in surprise.

"How did you get in here?!"

The woman chuckled lightly, "You said that only a being as powerful as a primordial could use their powers in here. Well, just your luck. I am a primordial."

My worries suddenly vanished as the woman pulled back her hood to reveal the face of Nyx. My stomach bubbled with joy as I stared at the Primordial of Night, but almost immediately plummeted. Why had she come? She had no chance against the strength of Apollyon, and by coming here, it was almost like suicide for her. The worst part about it was that she was doing this for me. If I hadn't been here, then she would not be in danger. I thought back to the war and tears almost sprang to my eyes at the thought of another person getting hurt by my actions.

"Nyx? What are you doing here?!"

"It was quite easy to escape my confinements and flash here with no problems. You should really get some better guards, Apollyon. Did you really think that a couple of minor gods would be enough to stop a primordial?"

Apollyon growled as he realized his foolishness, "It doesn't matter anyway, you will not escape alive."

Nyx laughed again and said something I couldn't quite here, as the voice of the same Primordial resonated throughout my brain, making it hard to hear anything else.

 _Percy. I could flash us out of here, but we cannot leave without the key. Since you cannot touch it, I will need to grab it and channel its power to create an explosion that will most likely subdue him, at least for a while until we can get back to Olympus. Whatever you do, do not let go of my hand!,_ Nyx said to me in my head, as she distracted Apollyon with a taunt of some sort.

 _Wait, this doesn't sound safe at all. What are you planning to do?_

 _I won't explain to you right now, because we are a little short on time. You're right, it is not exactly 'safe', but you're just going to have to trust me, all right?_

 _Fine, but if this gets us killed, then I'm going to kill you._

 _Fair enough. Just be ready, because it will happen pretty quickly,_ she said with a chuckle.

I turned my mind back to reality and saw Apollyon with his fists clenched into balls, glaring at Nyx.

"You know nothing!" He shouted. I looked questioningly at Nyx, but she just signaled with her eyes that she would explain later. Suddenly, Nyx disappeared from my sight, only to appear once more right in front of me. She grabbed my shoulder roughly reached towards the key. I made sure that I had a right grip on Nico's wrist, but it was tough to hold on because he was in full panic mode. He had no idea what was going on and was thrashing about, kicking into midair and yelling loudly.

As soon as Nyx had disappeared, he had whirled around to face her new position as he sensed her flash behind him. He made to grab her, but just as he was about to reach her, her outstretched hand snatched up the key. I looked at Apollyon's face and was met by an expression of disbelief and surprisingly, desperation.

It was like an action movie. The world around me moved in slow motion and I watched as a bubble of power exploded from the key, engulfing us. I felt Nyx flash us away, but this version of flash seemed to tear my flesh off my bones and shred my body to pieces. It felt like I was going through a meat grinder, but almost as soon as it started, it stopped.

I sat up gasping and heard two other people lying around me, also as a loss for air.

"What was that?!" I screamed at Nyx.

"I used the key to create an explosion around us while simultaneously flashing us away. The excess power from the explosion was channeled into our flash, overloading it and therefore making it extremely painful," She explained, still a little out of breath.

"Well, at least you could have told us!" Nico said.

"Where is all the fun in that?" Nyx asked humorously, "Anyways, I think it's time that you actually took a look around. I think you're going to like it."

I swiveled my head around and was shocked to find that we were in the Olympian Throne room once again. Everything was as it had been before Apollyon had captured me. The wall was still blown out and there was rubble on the floors. No gods were sitting on their thrones, and the one object in the room was a golden tree floating in the center of the room. The tree of the golden apples. I thanked every higher being that I knew that it was safe and that we still had a chance in this fight, even if it was slim.

"Quickly call a meeting. We definitely don't have much time before Apollyon wakes up and realizes what happened. The power of the key will subdue him for a little while, but we still have to be quick about this," Nyx said. I nodded in agreement. This was our one shot at victory, if we failed, then all was lost. The only problem was that I didn't actually have the power to call a meeting. I wasn't part of the council. Then something came to mind. _Wait, I'm actually the guardian of Olympus right? What if I try and call a meeting using this._

I raised my sword to the ceiling and closed my eyes, concentrating on my desire to summon the gods. I felt a pull in my gut, not unlike what happened when I was using my water powers, and immediately seized it. A brilliant white light, intertwined with the colors of each god shot into the sky and shot through a hole in the roof. Once it was high enough, it seemed to explode into the symbols of each god in their corresponding colors.

The effect was immediate. There were 14 flashes of light all in the throne room at the same time. When it all died down, I looked back to the thrones and saw that every single god was sitting in their throne looking around frantically. The council was in complete disarray and the gods were shouting around, looking for the person who summoned them to the throne room. I didn't need to be told who they were looking for.

Suddenly, a silver blur smashed into me, sending me back a good ten feet as I landed on my back with a woman in my arms. My soul flared and I could feel the connection to this woman growing to its original state. Our bond had been weak during the time that I had spent in Apollyon's torture chamber. The loss had affected both of us deeply and I could tell that Artemis had been devastated while I was gone. It was essentially ripping our souls apart and keeping them from each other. It had been even worse torture than anything Apollyon could have given me.

I looked down to see the woman that I loved sobbing on my chest and slamming her fists against my stomach, although I barely felt it in the sea of euphoria I was being drowned in. Tears of my own were flooding into my own eyes and I pulled Artemis up so she was looking me in the eye. The look on her face made my heart break, and I surged up, capturing her moist, tear-soaked lips with my own. I could feel her lips mold against the shape of my own, like our two pairs of lips were created to kiss the other.

Just as we were about to deepen the kiss, we heard somebody from the thrones clear their throats. We separated ever so slowly, but only after kissing for another good ten seconds.

"Would you like to tell me what's going on right now?! We're all happy that your back and all, but I want to know what the hell you're doing kissing my _maiden_ daughter!" Screamed Zeus in rage.

"We do not have time to explain right now, but I promise that I will tell you if we get out of this alive," I said. The other gods seemed to break out of their shock at seeing me and rushed from their thrones down to meet me on the floor. I was crushed by every god and goddess on the council, excluding Artemis, who had already given me her greeting, and Zeus, who was still not a big fan of mine. Plus, the king of the gods could not be seen hugging a weak little demigod, or else it would make him look bad.

I was completely soaked by tears of each individual god and to my surprise, even Ares was tearing up a little. I hadn't known that I had such a big impact on the gods. I was crushed between the gods for a good two minutes before I was released and left gasping on the floor, Artemis still by my side, hugging me for dear life. Some gods gave watery chuckles at me, while others looked like they were still on the verge of another outbreak of tears. To be honest, it was quite awkward seeing the gods bawling their eyes out right in front of me.

"My son! You have no idea how happy we are to see you. I thought I had lost you forever!" Poseidon said, relieved that his son was back with him. None of the gods had known the extent of my torture, except Artemis, who I knew could have felt it through our bond. She must have sensed my thoughts and squeezed my hand from her position beside me. Hestia, Hera, and Athena, who were all crying the most out of any god, all nodded in agreement and I could see the joy in their eyes. It made my heart clench in fear at the thought of losing them.

I was ok with giving my own life for this cause, but when it came to my family, I would give up my entire soul to see them safe. Anything to let them live their lives, even if it was without me.

"Ok, quick! We don't have much time!" Nyx said a little frantically as she realized how much time had just gone by. By now, Apollyon might have already woken up.

"What? To do what?" Asked Zeus. Nyx flashed to the middle of the room and brought the key out from behind her back. The gods were stunned, to say the least, and I couldn't blame them. Before this, they had thought that it was all over, but now that the key was a mere fifty feet from them, they realized that they really had another chance in this fight. This seemed to pump fire into their blood because everybody snapped to attention immediately.

"Now that I clearly have your undivided attention, I need to explain the situation," Nyx said, "So. Pretty much, I used the power of the key to creating an explosion that has enough power to knock Apollyon out for a short amount of time. I flashed myself, Nico, and Percy over here, and took the key with me. Luckily, it seems that you kept the tree, so we should be all set to activate this key unless Apollyon somehow manages to recover far quicker than I had anticipated."

The gods all looked at each other and a silent agreement passed between them.

"Then let's do this. We only have one shot at this and I will not let it go to waste," Boomed Zeus. The gods nodded.

"Ok then, you will need to be very fast. I will float this key to the center of the room next to the tree, but it will take a lot of power to get them to collide. With my help, you should be able to do it fairly quickly. Percy, you will need to try and distract Apollyon if he does get here. I know that is a dangerous task, but it may be necessary to our success."

I nodded vigorously. I would do anything and everything I could to stop Apollyon if I needed to.

"Very well, if this ends badly, then it was a pleasure being in this family, even if we do fight a lot," Zeus said.

"There is no need for that, Husband. We _will_ succeed," Said Hera. The other gods seemed to agree with Hera.

Nyx, sensing that they were ready, said, "Ready to get started?" The gods nodded and she floated the key right next to the tree, about a foot apart. The power in the room increased by a thousand fold as they grew closer. My legs felt heavy and I thought I might collapse at any moment, but the gods were still sitting in their thrones as if nothing was happening.

As if they were made of one mind, they all reached their hands out towards the two glowing objects and made a motion in the air, like they were trying to squish them together using the force.

Suddenly, the energy in the room skyrocketed higher than it had been before. Apollyon walked out of a portal, sneering at us. I looked to the gods and saw that they were in such concentration that they hadn't even sensed the imminent danger. I turned back to Apollyon and took out my sword.

"DO YOU THINK A PUNY SWORD AS SMALL AS THAT CAN DEFEAT ME?!" yelled Apollyon loudly. He was in complete rage mode and his power levels were surging to new heights, past what I thought was even possible for one being without combusting. It was like the power of the universe was condensed into this one man-sized being.

I was shaking in fear and my sword dropped to the ground in fear of the abomination in front of me. That is until I remembered what I was fighting for. I instantly brought my sword back up to fighting position and all fear drained completely from my body. I was filled was a sense of confidence and a certain acceptance. An acceptance that I would most likely die here.

"I will make quick work of you, then murder those gods that you call 'family'," He said, spitting out the word family.

"And what do you know of a family?" I sneered at him. I watched in surprise as he flinched ever so slightly and I knew that I had hit the nail right on the head.

"Do not talk to me about family!" He snarled.

"Why not? Because you don't have one?" I shouted back at him. I just needed to stall him as much as possible, and this seemed to be doing just the trick.

"I had a family, but they abandoned me! They did nothing as I was pulled from my home and put in this garbage dump of a universe!"

He was from out of this universe? How powerful was he really?

"What do you mean?!" I yelled at him, partly because I needed to stall time, and partly because I was genuinely curious.

"Ha! You, humans, are arrogant. You think that you're the highest beings. Where I come from, I am at the bottom of the food chain. There are beings stronger than me by millions of times! Your godly parents are just delusional to think that you're the most powerful there is out there!"

Another worm of fear wriggled its way into my stomach as I realized what he was saying. If this was true, then he was just the tip of the iceberg, but his next words eased my worries immediately.

"But they abandoned me. They didn't want anything to do with this universe, so they just tossed me out like a piece of _trash_!"

Behind me, the two objects were almost touching and I just needed to stall him for another minute or so. Unfortunately, luck has been never on my side and he noticed what was going on behind me. His eyes narrowed at me and he started stalking towards me with a wicked looking knife in his fist, which was clenched so tightly that I was amazed that the knife didn't shatter.

"Nice little trick you got there. I have to admit, it almost worked, but now this is the end for you," He snarled. He advanced and swung his knife in an arc towards my neck. I barely dodged in time, but I took the opportunity to rush at him with my sword. I stabbed his gut but was shocked to find that it didn't even pierce his skin. I looked into his eyes in disbelief and saw a smirk on his face.

A blast of power struck my stomach and I flew back, hitting the wall behind me with so much force that it left a crack. I stumbled to my feet, dazed. I was seeing stars and knew that I didn't have any chance of surviving this encounter any more, but before I dropped to my knees and accepted defeat, I reached into my pocket and grabbed a familiar ballpoint pen. I brought it out into the open and uncapped it, letting it spring to its full size. A nostalgic feel swept through my body and I tensed, remembering all the battles I fought with this sword. Battles that had always been side by side with my fallen friends.

I burst of confidence burst through my blood to the point where it felt like my entire body was burning up. There was no way that I could ever hope to defeat Apollyon, but if I was going to die, then I would die saving the universe. After that, I could be forever at peace with every single one of my mortal friends. I raised my sword and shoved the tip towards Apollyon's stomach and watched in awe as it pierced his stomach, driving up the hilt into his body.

Apollyon merely grunted and shoved me back against the wall. He tore the sword from his stomach and I could see bits of his flesh stuck to the blade. As he was about to decapitate me, I noticed something behind him and quickly closed my eyes. As the gods released their true forms, the room shook and threw Apollyon off balance, Riptide striking the wall beside my head.

Apollyon growled and swiveled around towards the source of the power. He tried to throw a bolt of energy at the thrones, but it was too late. The key and the tree collided and a shock wave of power enveloped the entire throne room. I felt everything around me disintegrate and was appalled that I was not a pile of dust either. When everything cleared away, Apollyon was standing in the middle of the room, completely unfazed, while everybody else was either unconscious or groaning on the ground, trying to recover from the massive power surge.

He grinned like a madman.

"Not even your little trick worked on me! I'm the ruler of this universe and you cannot stop me!" He said, laughing maniacally Suddenly, it was as if a black hole had opened up behind him. It looked like his body was slowly being torn apart by this hole, a white substance flowing from his body into the empty space behind me.

"NOOOOOOO!" He shouted as the last of his body was sucked into the abyss. It promptly closed, leaving no trace that it had even appeared.

(End of Chapter 23)

SPQR-Alan: Thank you for giving me such constructive feedback! I like that you're not somebody who just give compliments or criticism. You give great suggestions, that I always use in future chapters. You just reminded me that Nico should not be so easily forgiven by the gods. I was not going to address that before, but after reading your review, I realized that I needed something like that. I will write that in the next chapter. Thanks!

the guy who loves all gunpla: I'm glad that you had a good time in China. I love Chinese food! Anyways, I'm not sure if you meant to put a question mark where you did, so I'm just going to assume that you're asking how Percy was tortured: The key is an extremely powerful object that no mortal is able to touch without it inflicting excruciating pain to them.

guest: Thank you for the compliment. I'm glad that you have been liking my story. To be honest, I would rather start on my new one soon, because I would like a clean slate. As I was writing this one, I didn't really have any experience in writing stories at all, so I just went with what I thought made sense, but looking back, there were sooooo many things that I would have liked to change about the plot. And I mean a _lot._ So even though I am sad to see this story come to an end, I am very excited to start on a new story!

 **A.N: This chapter was actually very hard to write because there was so much to keep track of. I had to make a heartfelt reunion, while at the same time making sure that it didn't take too long because Apollyon might have woken up at any second. There was no way that I could have made a complete reunion, so you're just going to have to make do with what is here.**

 **A.N #2: Honestly, after I wrote this chapter, I thought back on my plot, and this seems like one of the more obscure plots that I've read about. This chapter makes it seem like some sort of espionage mission to steal valuable information within some top secret facility. I will be trying for a more realistic plot in the next story though. How do you guys like this story compare to others, I want to know. Don't worry about hurting my feelings, just put it out there! (Unless, of course** **, you're going to outright insult me)**

 **SOMETHING THAT I KNOW YOU GUYS WILL LOVE: If you guys want to, then you can post a review on how Percy should propose to Artemis. I know you all saw that coming, so now is the opportunity for you to give me suggestions. I will be choosing the one that I think would work best for the story and is the most creative! Please tell me!**


	24. Chapter 26

Artemis POV:

As Apollyon was sucked into the gaping hole behind him, his last scream of rage and desperation rang throughout the throne room. The black hole closed, leaving no trace that he had ever been there in the first place. The throne room was silent for a good minute as everybody came to terms with the intense past ten minutes.

Suddenly, it was like a bomb had exploded in the middle of the room. Most of the gods sat up abruptly and cheered loudly. It was the most lively that I had ever seen them in all my years of living. Apollo summoned bottles of champagne and sprayed them all over the room, while Hermes shot fireworks through the hole in the ceiling. After that, it was complete chaos. Confetti rained from the ceiling and obscured my view of everything around me. I caught a brief glimpse of my father doing the shimmy, which let me tell you, looked hilarious.

I had never expected such a big celebration after the battle. Granted, I had not even been thinking ahead to the end of the battle in fear of the possibility of losing. I had been too scared to even fathom the chance that our entire universe would be utterly annihilated.

Suddenly, I realized something. Looking frantically through the pandemonium, I tried to spot my love. When I couldn't find him, I panicked a little and almost called for a stop to the partying so that I could locate my bondmate. Oops, _bondmate_.

I opened my sense, scanning the room for any sign of Percy. My mind locked onto something directly behind me and I tried to turn around, but a pair of arms wrapped their way around my body. The figure behind me covered my eyes with their hands.

"Guess who?" A deep masculine voice rumbled from behind me. I immediately sighed in relief. He was safe.

I whirled around in his arms, hugging him so tightly that I swear I heard a few cracks.

"Percy! Oh gods! I'm so glad you're alright! I was so scared that... that," I said before Percy cut me off.

"Shhhh. Arty, it's alright. Nothing happened to me. I'm alright, there is not a reason to worry anymore. It's all over," He said reassuringly. Those words broke the wall of my emotional dam. Tears streaked down my face as the aftermath of the recent events smashed into me with full force. Percy held me comfortingly as I sobbed into his chest openly. I had never shown any sort of weakness to any of the other gods before but at that moment, I couldn't care less that the gods saw my crying. Percy's words resonated throughout my mind over and over again. _It's all over... It's all over... It's all over._

It really was all over. Although knowing our luck, there would be another great prophecy in the next month or so that would once again threaten society. I felt safe in Percy's arms and I never wanted to move from this position. Percy pushed back enough that he could see my face and leaned down. I met him halfway and smashed my lips onto his own in a passionate kiss that lit my world on fire.

I was in complete heaven as I moaned into his lips. He pulled back and looked me directly in the eye.

"I love you so much, Arty," He whispered to me," I-I mean..."

Now it was my turn to shush him. I put a finger to his lips and pecked his cheek softly.

"I love you too, Perce."

Percy's eyes widened before he started to grin widely. I could feel my own lips turning upwards into a huge smile as well. I leaned in and captured his lips once more. We held that position for quite a long time as the world faded around us. The partying gods had long disappeared from our minds and the only thing that mattered now was us. We stood together with our lips pressed against the other's and our souls twirling in the air, locked in a harmonious melody, fueled by the synchronized beating of our hearts

I could practically feel my own heart synchronizing with Percy's, beating together in blissful harmony. There was a certain peacefulness that was set upon us, but it was suddenly broken as somebody cleared their throat loudly right next to us.

Suddenly, the world and all its colors burst around us and we were painfully aware of every single pair of eyes in the room pointed in our direction. Percy and I shot apart, our cheeks blazing with the sudden humiliation of being caught.

The silence was broken when a soft chuckle floated from the back of the room, becoming a full outburst of laughter in a matter of seconds. All eyes turned to the figure who was currently on the ground holding their stomachs.

"Oh my gods! You should get a load of the look on your faces. You look like children who were caught with their hands in the cookie jar!" Nyx shouted as she finished laughing.

"Why is that so funny?! How dare that sea scum defile my favorite daughter?!" Zeus screamed, before getting furious glares from Aphrodite and Athena. "Er, I mean one of my favorite daughters...?"

Many of the gods opened their mouths to speak out against Zeus' words, but the god who spoke first surprised me along with everybody else in the throne room.

"Father, I may have not liked any man so much as look at my little sis in the past, but Percy is the one person who I would put all my trust in not to hurt Artemis. I do not like this any more than you do, but I believe that Percy deserves a chance. After all this, do you think keeping your own daughter from the person she loves most is a smart idea? After all this, is it such a big deal that your daughter has finally found somebody who will make her happy no matter when it is? No, I do not support it, but I will not interfere, and you need to at least give him a chance before you jump to a final decision," Apollo said.

Everybody in the throne room was completely shocked by his words, and even though he hadn't been completely acceptant of our relationship, he still made me feel like there was nothing left to stop Percy and I. The only obstacle we had really had was Zeus and Apollo, both of who I was worried would smite Percy where he stood once the news got out.

Zeus closed and opened his mouth in shock as he tried to come to terms with what Apollo had just said. If it hadn't been such a tense situation, I would have been laughing my head off. I had never seen my father at such a loss for words, and let me tell you, it was quite a prospect.

My father finally seemed to come back to reality.

"What do you mean?! I won't let the son of _Poseidon_ dirty, my _maiden_ daughter!" He screamed in indignation. I sighed, of course, Father would be harder convince than Apollo was. He was known for being the most stubborn god our there, and I had been holding onto a false hope that he would just come to accept our relationship and move on. I didn't even need him to support it. _Wait, why do I even care what Father thinks? I'm the goddess of the moon, for gods' sake! Nobody tells me what I can and cannot do!_

"Father, I honestly do care one bit about what you think of my relationship with Percy. I know that I was sworn to be a maiden goddess, but I'm sure that I could talk to Styx and get my vow revoked. I have always been compliant to your wishes, but in this, I will not stand by that. You can tell me whatever you want, but I will continue to pursue a relationship with Percy, no matter what I have to do. Besides, can't you just accept the fact that I'm happy with a male for once. You have been pressuring me to welcome the company of men for as long as I can remember," I say with conviction. There was no way in Hades that I would allow him to push me around on this one. Percy had become far too important to me to give him up simply because my father had told me to stay away from him.

I realized that I had been far too willing to follow everything that he said, and not question it. I was old enough to make my own decisions now.

Zeus looked at me, his eyes wide, no doubt astonished by the fact that I would ever talk back to him. He gained a slightly thoughtful and angry expression, but it soon deflated as he realized that I had a point.

"You are right, daughter. I have been taking away your freedom, but I only did what I thought was best for you. If this is truly what you would like, then I will allow it, but I do not have to like it," He said in defeat. I smiled at him with a huge grin while running up to him and squeezing him as hard as I could around the midsection.

"Thank you, Father! I assure you that this is truly what I want. Percy is the best male on the planet and I have come to love him more than life itself. I know that he will not let me down," I squealed very uncharacteristically. I could feel a rumbling laugh come from deep within my father's chest as he chuckled deeply and I felt him hug me back.

"Anything for you, My Daughter. Anything for you."

This was the first time in many many years that I had come into any intimate physical contact with my father. He had never been one for family hugs or affectionate pecks on the cheek, but at this moment, he didn't seem to care.

I pulled away from my father with a beaming smile on my face. I couldn't believe that my father had been so easy to convince. I thought that we would have to restrain him and threaten to make him accept us, but all we had to do was convince Apollo, and the rest worked itself out from there.

I stepped back towards Percy and grabbed his hand as he smiled down at me, clearly happy with the current position we were in.

"Now that all that is in order, we must address the current issue at hand: what shall we do with this young demigod here? He could be punished severely for his actions against us gods," Zeus said pointing at Nico. I felt Percy's hand tense in my own and knew that he was about to burst out. I squeezed his hand tightly to warn him not to get out of control. He looked down at me and then nodded grudgingly.

"Lord Zeus, with all due respect, Nico was not consciously aware of what he was doing while being controlled by Peitho. There was nothing he could have done, and you can't blame him for not being able to fight the will of a god. Wait a minute, that reminds me, can you flash that bitch Peitho over here. I want to kick her ass for what she did to my little bro," Percy said as calmly as he could.

"Peitho was controlling my son?! We should have her thrown in Tartarus for this act of treason to the Olympian gods!" shouted Hades.

"Calm down brother, if this is really was not your son's fault, then he will not be punished. Hermes, will you please fetch Peitho and bring her here. You are authorized to use for if you must," Zeus ordered. Hermes nodded and flashed off, a minute later, he came back with a struggling woman in his arms. He dropped her down in the middle of the throne room.

"Hephaestus, please cuff her with anti godly power handcuffs. We must not let her get away," Zeus said. Hephaestus threw down a pair of handcuffs towards Hermes who caught them and clasped them around her wrists, making sure that they were on securely, all while she was kicking and screaming. I felt Percy wince beside me as Hermes caught a blow where Apollo doesn't shine, but surprisingly, Hermes didn't seem to register the pain as he continued his task as if nothing had happened.

I realized that the cuffs had already taken her powers away and that she no longer had the strength to cause any pain to us gods.

"Let me go, you bastards!" Peitho screeched.

"You are being trialed for treason at the moment, I would not be talking if I were you," Zeus growled. "Council, what do you propose that we should do with this wretch?"

"I believe that Tartarus for eternity would be a good idea. Away here powers, but leave her with immortality so that she can't do anything, but so that she still has to endure the pains of The Pit," Proposed Poseidon. He was thinking along the lines of the most painful punishments for what she had put Percy through.

Upon hearing this, Peitho started thrashing even harder against her cuffs, trying to escape in any way possible.

"Who on the council votes that this should be her punishment? I, for one, think that this is coming off quite lightly considering that you were trying to take down the entire universe," Zeus said. The vote was unanimous in favor of her punishment.

"Please! Just fade me! Or banish me to the Void!" Peitho begged. Us gods looked at her in complete disgust.

"You will get no such mercy. The council has spoken and you will be banished to Tartarus momentarily," Zeus said, "Hades, will you open a path to The Pit?"

"Of course, brother. Hades waved his hand and a hole opened up in the floor. The gods flinched at the sinister feeling emanating from the bottom of the pit, but Percy and I were not fazed, having traveled through Tartarus already.

"Can I do the honors, Father? I asked. My father nodded at me and gestured for me to throw her into the Pit. I flashed down and eagerly grabbed her by the back of her dress. She looked at me pleadingly once more, no doubt hoping that I would show any type of mercy and just kill her right then and there. I sneered at her and held her over the deep pit in the ground.

Peitho started the thrash once more and in her struggling, stuck my face, causing me to lose my hold on her dress. She howled as fell down, down, down, into Tartarus itself, still bound by the handcuffs preventing any godly powers. Luckily, or unluckily for her, they were specially designed to keep her immortality in place.

We waited until we could no longer hear her screams, before looking at each other.

"Oops?" I said sheepishly. The gods looked at me skeptically before bursting into hysterical laughter. It wasn't even that funny, but we were just so relieved that it was all over. I made my way over to Percy, who was still standing to the side of the throne room and slung my arms around his neck. He looked me in the eye and I was lost in the amount of pure adoration and love in his sea green pools, knowing that I too had the same look in my own eyes. Our heads slowly moved together and we met yet another passionate kiss, one that I was comfortable letting the other gods see, now that everybody had already approved.

I felt a presence beside me and reluctantly pulled back from Percy, turning to see who had interrupted our moment with a glare on my face; however, it was quickly melted by the realization that it wasn't an idiotic sun or lightning god, but Nyx herself. Percy disengaged his arms from around my body and wrapped Nyx in a tight hug.

"Thank you so much, Lady Nyx. We couldn't have done any of this without your help," He murmured into her hair. Nyx just chuckled softly.

"Careful now, wouldn't want Artemis to get jealous now, would we? You are most welcome, young hero. I knew that something was different about you the moment you set foot in my territory in Tartarus. You have proved to me countless times that you are the most worthy demigod to ever grace this earth. I was happy to help you and Artemis," She said.

Percy pulled back from the hug and grinned widely at her. Taking my turn, I grabbed her around the shoulders and squeezed them tightly, embracing her with all my strength.

"I thank you as well, Lady Nyx. You were imperative to our victory here today. I know that us gods have never had a very good relationship with you Primordials, but after this, I will speak with the council and make sure that you get the respect that you deserve, although, I think you already have that much respect from just us two," I thanked her sincerely.

"As I said to Percy, I was glad to help. I do not need the recognition or respect for this. I am happy knowing that the universe is safe," she said.

"I will still make sure you get it," I said firmly. She just nodded, her eyes twinkling as she smiled at us. She gave us one last wave before disappearing in front of our eyes.

I smirked and turned to Percy.

"So what are we going to do now that we don't have to save the world for the next week?" I said jokingly.

"I don't know, My Love. I'm sure we'll figure something out," He said, pecking me on the nose. I met him halfway and crashed our lips together in our most passionate kiss yet.

Percy POV:

During the weeks after Apollyon had been banished to the void, the gods of Olympus had been in complete party mode. Every single night it seemed like they would throw a massive party for everybody on Olympus to attend. Many of the gods who attended did not even know what this party was for.

At the moment, I was walking down the streets of Olympus with Ashley holding my hand. After the Apollyon incident, I went straight to my mother's house where we had a heartfelt reunion with lots of tears and blue cookies. I pulled Ashley aside and asked her if she wanted to take a walk with me on Olympus in a couple of weeks, so here we are now.

"Where are we going, Percy?" She asked excitedly.

"I'm going to take you to see a friend of mine. He's a god," I chuckled. Her eyes widened at the prospect of meeting another god, which looked quite adorable. I stopped us at our destination and walked up to the palace door to knock. Almost immediately the door swung open to reveal Hephaestus.

"Ah, Percy. I knew you would show up sometime soon," He said.

"Hello, Lord Hephaestus. Would it be possible for you to do me a favor?" I asked.

"Don't worry, young Perseus. I already know what you're about to ask. Come back in about an hour and I should have everything set for you! Think of this as a thank you gift for what you have done for Olympus. This does not even begin to pay you back, but it's a start," He said.

"I do not need anything as payment for what I have done. I would have done it anyway, even if I knew that I would die. The knowledge that the world is safe is enough payment for me. if you really want to pay me back, then just get me this, and everything is paid back."

Hephaestus chuckled, "You really are different from the rest. Well then, I will get started and hopefully have it done within the hour. Just stop by whenever you have time and I should have it ready for you."

I gave him one last thanks before mist traveling to the throne room of Olympus with Ashley in my arms.

"What are we doing now?" She asked.

"I need to ask a very important question to Lord Zeus and Lord Apollo," I said. I silently mind messaged them in my mind and waited for a couple of seconds before they flashed into their thrones.

"What do you require of us, young Perseus?" Zeus asks. I shift Ashley around in my arms nervously before opening my mouth to speak.

"Uh- I uh- I called you two here to ask Artemis' hand in marriage," I said completely unconfidently. They looked at me like they didn't even know what I was saying.

"Wait, what? What did you just say?" Apollo said, confused.

"I said can I have Artemis' hand in marriage," I repeated. They had a dumb look on their face before their eyes cleared and they looked at me.

"You want Artemis' hand in marriage? Already? I doubt you've been together very long. Plus, she still has her maiden oath. She cannot marry," Zeus pointed out. I was taken aback by how calm he was on the subject.

"Lord Zeus, we may not have been together long, but I can confidently that she is currently the most important person in my life. It is not about age, it's about the mileage. We have been through so much together ion the short time that we have been together. I know that she is the right one for me. As for the maiden vow, I will talk to Styx about it. I should easily be able to convince her to let her oath go," I said.

"Well, Percy. I do not like this one bit, but I know that you are worthy of my sister. I trust that you will make her the happiest goddess alive. I will grant you my permission to marry my sister," Apollo said.

"I will give you my permission as well, Perseus. I used to think that you were just another disrespectful demigod, but I know now that you are not just disrespectful, but also very loyal and brave. If any man were to marry her, I'm glad that it's you," Zeus said.

I looked at them gratefully and flashed them the biggest smile that I could manage.

"Thank you so much! You will not regret this decision. I treat Artemis like the queen she is," I said, unable to contain my excitement. The smiled once more before nodding at me and flashing out.

I turned to Ashley who was still in my arms and spun her around laughing loudly as I did. She giggled and laughed along with me.

"What was that for?" She asked.

"I'm going to marry Artemis!" I shouted. She looked at me happily.

"I'm happy for, big brother," She said, hugging me tightly. I held onto her before pulling back.

"Why don't we go get some of that ice cream that I promised you before we go back to Hephaestus' palace," I suggested. She got this extremely ecstatic look in her eyes and started bouncing up and down in my arms.

"Yeah!"

(Line Break)

Two days later, I stood with Artemis in the grass next to the cliff at Westover hall, the place where we had first met. I remembered that day as clear as day. I smiled wistfully before I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Percy? You spaced out for a second there. Why did you bring me here?" Artemis asked. She looked as beautiful as ever, even though she was in her usual hunting clothes in addition to not having a trace of makeup on her perfect face. I took in all her features before breathing in a deep breath.

"Artemis, ever since we fell into Tartarus together. I felt myself growing closer and closer together. I will not say that it was love at first sight because that's cheesy, but I know that the moment I saw you, my heart felt something for you. I never thought that I would fall in love with a maiden goddess, but I am so glad that I did. No woman could ever compare to you. You are perfect in every aspect, and I do not even know how the fates deemed me worthy of you, but I will not lose this opportunity to make you mine, and my me yours, forever."

I turned to her and took her hand, dropping down to a knee, drawing a box out from behind me back. My heart was beating like a sledgehammer within my chest. By now, Artemis was crying her heart out and I could see the pure emotion within her beautiful eyes.

"So, Artemis, goddess of the moon, may I have the honor of becoming your husband?"

Nothing could compare to the moment when she nodded her head, her hands over her mouth, as tears poured from her eyes. She brought me up onto my feet and kissed me deeply, before hugging me with all her strength. I followed in suit and hugged her back just as tightly.

"I love you so much," She whispered into my ear.

"I love you too, Arty," I whispered back. And that was the moment that I knew I was content.

(End of Chapter 24)

the guy who loves all gunpla: Thanks for being understanding. I hope you have liked this story. It's pretty much over, except for the epilogue and you've been with me through all of it. So thanks again.

Isiliel Otris: Thank you! I'm not exactly sure what to say to the other part though... Honestly, I was actually considering that, but I decided that it was too uncharacteristic for Artemis xD.

EmmaBloomFan22: Yert! As for your other review, I appreciate your understanding.

The God of Nerdiness: Thanks. I know that I have some grammatical errors in my story. I try my best to edit them out, but as you can see, I'm not the best at editing. Also, I'm too lazy to get a beta, so... I guess you have to try and ignore them.

MasterTrident: As you can tell from my story, I used this idea. Thanks for the suggestion! Nobody else offered any ideas, so I just used yours.

KratosLeonidasRenascitur: I guess you have a good point... hope you even got this far to read this reply to your comment!

alajaihthomas: Thank you so much! I hope you're reading this and that you haven't completely abandoned my story since the first chapter! xD

 **A.N: That's the last real chapter of this story. After this, it's just the epilogue and this story is finished! I really hope that you guys have enjoyed the story so far! I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I felt that it was one of my best so far, so tell me what you think!**

 **P.S: My next story will start once I decide on a plot for it. I think the pairing will be PercyXHestiaXArtemis, but it might change if the poll shows differently. I do not think that I will be able to reach 30 votes on a pairing, so I'll just use the one that is most popular when I start the story. I also will not have the second poll that I said I would have because far fewer people are voting than I thought would.**


	25. Epilogue

Percy POV:

As the years passed, there was still not a great prophecy, which still surprises me to this day. Artemis and I ended up getting married on Olympus in front of every single being on Olympus. Every single one of them was shocked that the Hero of Olympus would be marrying the most devoted Maiden goddess. Many of the male gods had been angry because apparently there was a competition between them on who could break Artemis' maiden vow first. Let's just say that none of them will be able to move for a couple of months.

The ceremony was sweet and I couldn't imagine how it could have been better. After the wedding, my new bride and I had gone on our honeymoon and had done _it,_ the first time for both of us. The day before, we had traveled to the underworld and talked to Styx about removing her maiden vow. Styx had agreed, claiming that it was the least she could do for the savior of Olympus.

As of now, we stand together, watching the sunrise from our palace on Olympus. I turn to Artemis and wrap my arm around her waist. She turns to me and smiles a huge smile, leaning forward and bringing our lips together.

"Thank you, Percy. Thank for all of this," She whispers in my ears as we part.

"Do not thank me, Arty. I owe all of this to you," I whisper back. She smiles contentedly once more. I pull her to my chest and let her lean back so that she was resting against me. I don't know how long we stand here, but she suddenly pulls back.

"You know we have to get ready for our guests right?"

"Yeah, I know, but I just want to stand here a little longer," I whine.

She chuckles, "Come on, Percy. We don't have time for that. I still need to cook the food and prepare the dessert before they get here. And you, mister, need to patch up that hole in the wall that the kids made."

"Damn, I love those kids to the moon and back, but some times they can be such a pain in the ass," I sigh. Suddenly, I feel a tug on the hem of my shirt. I look down to see my daughter standing there with her stuffed bear clenched in her hands.

"Daddy, what is a pain in the ass?" She asks in her adorable voice.

"Uh...," I say sheepishly as Artemis glares at me, "Uh... it's nothing that you have to worry about right now, Amara."

"But I want to know too," we hear a voice whining from the hallway. We look in that direction to see our other twin looking at us curiously.

"Um, this doesn't concern you either, Althea. It's something very important that little people are not supposed to know about," I say uneasily. I look to Artemis for help again and see that she has a look on her face that says ' _you're on your own_ '. Man, this is going to be a long evening.

After a long chat with my daughters on how a 'pain in the ass' was a term for a unicorn, I get up and sigh.

"Now for that hole in the wall..."

(Line Break)

Later that night, Artemis and I stand behind the closed front door after we let Nyx, Hestia, Athena, and Hera take their leave. We had invited them for our annual dinner together in celebration of the victory over Apollyon, which we celebrate with dinner every year.

Artemis turns to me with a smile on her face.

"Why don't we tuck the children in as a family tonight? We haven't had the opportunity to do so in Chaos knows how long," She suggested, pecking my lips.

"I think that's a great idea."

As we sit on the bed as a family that night, I simply lay my head back and watch as Artemis tells our twins a story about a brave man who saved Olympus three times over. I look over at my family and a deep feeling of happiness and joy sweeps through my body, and I know that there is nothing that could have made me any happier at that moment. I had a beautiful wife, two incredible twin girls, and an amazing life, something that very few demigods ever get to experience.

Artemis must have sensed my thoughts and emotions through our bond because she looks up at me and grabs my hand, grinning at me while still retelling the story of Perseus Jackson and at that moment, I realize that the Sea and the Moon fit together far more than I had ever thought possible. Each wave that sloshes along the shore of life, the Moon is there to illuminate the gentle roll of the Sea. Each storm in the middle of the raging Sea, the Moon is there with its comforting glow, calming the Sea to a point where nothing could ever interrupt its tranquility. Every ripple, every splash, every disruption on the surface of the Sea, the Moon will be there.

Just as Artemis was there for me.

(End)

the guy who loves all gunpla: I'm sorry that this story has to end. Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you so much for sticking with me throughout this entire story. You wrote me such a nice pm and I really appreciate your kind words. You have given me so much support, so thank you again! I can't put into words how much it means to me.

P.S: I hope you're looking forward to the next story because I will probably be starting that in three of four weeks. Maybe even earlier.

SPQR-Alan: I really enjoyed reading what you've had to say about my story. Particularly the last review that you posted. Thank you so much for your support and I hope that you enjoyed this story as much as I did writing it.

Moon-Watcher5: Cool new username! Anyways, I owe you my deepest gratitude for your reviews throughout this story and your support for my writing. You've been with me the entire time, so thank you so much. :)

 **A.N: And that's the end of 'The Sea and The Moon'. I sincerely hope that you guys have enjoyed this story and I hope that you guys are happy with the epilogue that I have provided. If not, then I guess, there's not much I can about that. I won't be saying anything mushy in this author's note because that's all going to come in a separate chapter just so that I don't have to cram everything that I want to say into this one author's note, but I'll just put it out there. Thank you guys so much for sticking with me this far :). Until the mushy, emotional thank you chapter that I will be posting tomorrow!**


	26. Thank you

**Hey guys,**

 **This is officially the last update of 'The Sea and The Moon'. I will most likely not be editing of rewriting this story in any way, so it is what it is. Anyways, there's so much that I could say to you guys, but I'll try to keep it short.**

 **I just wanted to thank every single one of you guys. Each view, no matter how far you got into the story, has helped this story grow into what it is now. Now I know that this story is nothing compared to some of the bigger ones out there, but that's ok.**

 **My original goal for this story was to reach 50 reviews, 100 follows, and 100 favorites, which has been far exceeded with 104 reviews, 170 follows, and 119 favorites. I have you guys to thank for this. There is no way that I could have been able to get this far with the story. Without you guys, I would have never been able to get myself to update so much. You guys may not know it, but it's actually quite hard to get myself to start a new chapter (I get lazy too, you know).**

 **This probably sounds very cheesy, especially because I made an entire chapter dedicated to this, but I just wanted to put that all out there. Now, for some information on my next story:**

 **My next story will start when I have gotten the plot all planned out. The pairing has been decided that it will be PercyXHestiaXArtemis because most people wanted this (sorry the other people who didn't get their choice). I'm sorry if some of you guys don't like Percy with multiple goddesses.  
**

 **I try not to push people to follow or favorite my stories, but I would really appreciate it if you guys followed me as an author so that you get a notification when my next story begins. Until then!**

 **Thanks again,**

 **TyGuy45**


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